The Taiwan High Court yesterday did not hand down a ruling on Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng’s (王金平) injunction against the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) revocation of his party membership, as lawyers representing both sides continued to hold heated debates.
The court could make a ruling as early as today on the status of Wang’s membership, which was revoked by the KMT on Sept. 11 over his alleged involvement in improper lobbying.
If the court upholds the previous ruling on the case made by the Taipei District Court on Sept. 13, which allowed Wang to retain his membership, he would provisionally be able to keep his positions as a KMT legislator-at-large and as legislative speaker pending an appeal if the KMT elects to contest the ruling with the Supreme Court.
Photo: CNA
At yesterday’s three-hour hearing, eight lawyers representing Wang and three acting on behalf of the KMT made their cases to Presiding Judge Wei Li-chuan (魏麗娟).
Hsu Ying-chieh (許英傑), one of Wang’s lawyers, said that the transcripts from the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office Special Investigation Division’s (SID) wiretap — cited by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and the KMT as proof that Wang participated in lobbying to take legal pressure off Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) — should have been invalidated because the wiretap itself was illegal and an abuse of the division’s investigative rights.
The KMT’s lawyer Chen Ming (陳明) had previously said that the Taipei District Court “has no jurisdiction” over the case because a person being disciplined by their party is “a matter within the scope of the party’s autonomy,” adding that his interpretation was supported by a verdict rendered by the Japanese Supreme Court in a similar case involving a party member’s status in Japan 30 years ago.
However, Hsu told reporters after yesterday’s hearing that the KMT lawyers were misinterpreting the case in Japan as a court had eventually decided the case, which lent support to Wang’s lawyers’ stance that the KMT’s right to autonomy as a party should not be unlimited.
In addition, the party has not specified how Wang has damaged its reputation and the KMT’s Central Evaluation and Discipline Committee is designated by its chairman, Ma, not via a democratic process, raising questions about its independence, Hsu said.
The party’s lawyers submitted five documents stating six disputed points and 30 arguments about the initial ruling and the KMT’s handling of the case to the High Court before yesterday’s hearing, but did not come up with any fresh arguments.
The judge asked the KMT during yesterday’s hearing to submit additional documents to specify how Wang had damaged the party’s image.
The party appealed the case with the Taiwan High Court after the Taipei District Court ruled that Wang could keep his rights as a KMT member until a final ruling is made, on the condition that he pay a guarantee of NT$9.38 million (US$315,000) to the party.
According to the law, if the KMT wins the appeal, the case will be sent back to the district court for reconsideration, but if the appeal fails, the party may appeal the decision to the Supreme Court.
Right-wing political scientist Laura Fernandez on Sunday won Costa Rica’s presidential election by a landslide, after promising to crack down on rising violence linked to the cocaine trade. Fernandez’s nearest rival, economist Alvaro Ramos, conceded defeat as results showed the ruling party far exceeding the threshold of 40 percent needed to avoid a runoff. With 94 percent of polling stations counted, the political heir of outgoing Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves had captured 48.3 percent of the vote compared with Ramos’ 33.4 percent, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal said. As soon as the first results were announced, members of Fernandez’s Sovereign People’s Party
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to make advanced 3-nanometer chips in Japan, stepping up its semiconductor manufacturing roadmap in the country in a triumph for Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s technology ambitions. TSMC is to adopt cutting-edge technology for its second wafer fab in Kumamoto, company chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said yesterday. That is an upgrade from an original blueprint to produce 7-nanometer chips by late next year, people familiar with the matter said. TSMC began mass production at its first plant in Japan’s Kumamoto in late 2024. Its second fab, which is still under construction, was originally focused on
EMERGING FIELDS: The Chinese president said that the two countries would explore cooperation in green technology, the digital economy and artificial intelligence Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday called for an “equal and orderly multipolar world” in the face of “unilateral bullying,” in an apparent jab at the US. Xi was speaking during talks in Beijing with Uruguayan President Yamandu Orsi, the first South American leader to visit China since US special forces captured then-Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro last month — an operation that Beijing condemned as a violation of sovereignty. Orsi follows a slew of leaders to have visited China seeking to boost ties with the world’s second-largest economy to hedge against US President Donald Trump’s increasingly unpredictable administration. “The international situation is fraught
Opposition parties not passing defense funding harms Taiwan’s national security, two US senators said separately in rare public criticism. “I am disappointed to see Taiwan’s opposition parties in parliament [the legislature] slash President [William] Lai’s (賴清德) defense budget so dramatically,” Roger Wicker, a Republican who chairs the US Senate Armed Forces Committee, said on social media. “The original proposal funded urgently needed weapons systems. Taiwan’s parliament should reconsider — especially with rising Chinese threats,” he added. Wicker’s post linked to an article published by Bloomberg that said that the two opposition parties’ move was “potentially jeopardizing the purchases of billions of dollars of
RSS