Amid the latest political storm over the alleged illegal lobbying for a lawsuit involving Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘), President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday urged Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) to return to Taiwan immediately and explain his alleged involvement in the incident.
“[The incident] will damage the credibility of the judicial system and at the same time hurt the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) image … I hope Speaker Wang can return to Taiwan and explain the issue to the public as soon as possible,” Ma, who doubles as KMT chairman, said after casting his vote for the KMT’s Central Standing Committee election at the Taipei City Council.
Accompanied by a group of KMT Taipei City councilors, Ma said he has instructed KMT Secretary-General Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權) to contact Wang and ask him to clarify the issue as soon as possible.
Photo: CNA
Wang is in Malaysia on a family vacation. According to his assistant, Wang will not return to Taiwan any time soon because he is hosting his second daughter’s wedding today.
The assistant added that Wang has already heard the news about the alleged Ker-case lobbying from his office, but decided to refrain from commenting on the case.
Wang is scheduled to return on Tuesday, the assistant added.
Meanwhile, Ma yesterday also defended his decision to accept the resignation of former Minister of Justice Tseng Yung-fu (曾勇夫) on Friday night over accusations that he had abused his power to stop a prosecutor from appealing Ker’s case with the Supreme Court.
“As the general public has questions about the case, Tseng can no longer carry out his duty as the justice minister under such circumstances,” Ma said.
Tseng, who had originally refused to step down, while insisting on his innocence, announced his resignation late on Friday night after meeting with Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) twice earlier in the day.
Jiang yesterday dismissed the idea that Ma had forced Tseng’s resignation and said Tseng was defending his innocence during their private meetings.
“We both agree that he, as the top official in the judicial system, should hold his own performance to higher standards,” Jiang said.
Jiang said Tseng agreed to take “political responsibility” for the allegations and that his resignation did not mean that he admitted any involvement in illegal lobbying.
“We had a peaceful and rational discussion yesterday, and he was not forced to step down,” Jiang said.
Politicians in the pan-blue camp yesterday expressed concern about the incident and urged the Ma administration to handle it carefully.
Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said the incident involves administrative, legislative and judicial issues, and such a constitutional matter should be addressed carefully.
Former Taipei EasyCard Corp (悠遊卡公司) chairman Sean Lien (連勝文) expressed concern about the Special Investigation Division’s (SID) eavesdropping on Ker and Wang, but refrained from commenting further on the case.
Lien’s father, former KMT chairman Lien Chan (連戰), also showed up at the Taipei City Council to cast his vote, but declined to comment on the incident.
Meanwhile, conspiracy theories have been fueling the rumor mill, with KMT Legislator Liao Cheng-ching (廖正井) saying that he saw the incident as “sheer infighting” in the government’s judiciary system between Tseng and Prosecutor-General Huang Shih-ming (黃世銘), who led the SID, while others said it was an internal struggle in the Ma administration — infighting between Ma and Wang.
Wang does not have a position within the KMT, but as legislative speaker and a key figure in the party’s localization factions, he has great influence in the party.
Wang also represents the KMT’s old power bloc, along with party heavyweights including Lien Chan and former KMT chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄), and has had problematic relations with Ma in the wake of fierce competition over the KMT chairmanship in 2005.
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiu-chuan and staff writer
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
One of two tropical depressions that formed off Taiwan yesterday morning could turn into a moderate typhoon by the weekend, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Tropical Depression No. 21 formed at 8am about 1,850km off the southeast coast, CWA forecaster Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒) said. The weather system is expected to move northwest as it builds momentum, possibly intensifying this weekend into a typhoon, which would be called Mitag, Lee said. The radius of the storm is expected to reach almost 200km, she said. It is forecast to approach the southeast of Taiwan on Monday next week and pass through the Bashi Channel
NO CHANGE: The TRA makes clear that the US does not consider the status of Taiwan to have been determined by WWII-era documents, a former AIT deputy director said The American Institute in Taiwan’s (AIT) comments that World War-II era documents do not determine Taiwan’s political status accurately conveyed the US’ stance, the US Department of State said. An AIT spokesperson on Saturday said that a Chinese official mischaracterized World War II-era documents as stating that Taiwan was ceded to the China. The remarks from the US’ de facto embassy in Taiwan drew criticism from the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, whose director said the comments put Taiwan in danger. The Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday reported that a US State Department spokesperson confirmed the AIT’s position. They added that the US would continue to
RSS