Sunflower movement leader Chen Wei-ting (陳為廷) yesterday dropped out of the by-election for the legislative seat representing Miaoli County due to fears that past cases of sexual harassment would overshadow the political changes he and other like-minded people have sought to introduce.
Chen revealed on Tuesday that he was involved in two sexual harassment cases during his sophomore year and senior year in college, and was granted deferred prosecution for the first incident, triggering a polarized public reaction.
Chen said the decision to reveal the two acts of delinquency is a necessary examination of his personal integrity by the public, but due to personal cowardice he had been unable to completely come clean, adding that he had indeed committed similar incidents in the past.
Photo: Tsai Cheng-min, Taipei Times
His withdrawal came after a social media post accused him of groping a woman’s breast on a bus about six to eight years ago.
“I wish to extend my apologies to the women I have harmed in the past,” Chen said, adding that he was sorry that the indictments had been made public and caused more suffering to his victims.
“I know I have lied to society and to my supporters,” Chen said, adding that he was sad that the results of such confessions rendered him unable to clearly state his hopes and ideals for changing Miaoli County.
Despite the polarized reactions, Chen said he was nonetheless moved at the amount of support he had received, particularly from the crowd at a rally in Jhuolan Township (卓蘭) on Wednesday.
Chen said it was sad that the shadows of his past would have loomed over the elections and would potentially overshadow any policies he proposed, prompting him to drop his campaign bid.
However, Chen called on the media not to seek to invalidate all the demands made by student activists by citing these incidents.
Chen said he and the 200 to 300 volunteers recruited over the past months would continue to visit all 10 townships in the county and interview residents, seeking more in-depth understanding of what had happened in the townships in the past.
He said that despite his past actions casting a pall over future endeavors to better the county, he wished to call on his volunteers — all residents of Miaoli County — to continue their efforts and “finish what we started.”
Chen said he hoped that one day he would be able to face his past and become a better person, while offering his sincere apologies to those his actions had harmed.
‘NO EQUILIBRIUM’: Taiwan’s increased defense spending is a good step, but it needs to do more to have the ability to deter aggression from China, a senior US official said The US plans to sell as many as seven major weapons systems — including mines, cruise missiles and drones — to Taiwan, four people familiar with the discussions said. Pursuing seven sales at once is a rare departure from years of precedent in which US military sales to Taiwan were spaced out and carefully calibrated to minimize tensions with Beijing. However, US President Donald Trump’s administration has this year become more aggressive with China, and the sales would land as relations between Beijing and Washington are at their lowest point in decades over accusations of spying, lingering trade tensions, disputes about the
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS: Several of the PLA fighter jets that crossed the median line of the Strait came within 68km of Hsinchu, drawing warnings from Taiwan, the ministry said At least 18 Chinese military aircraft yesterday flew into the nation’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on the second day of a US delegation’s visit, the Ministry of National Defense said, adding that the military responded by deploying an air defense missile system to monitor their activities. A delegation led by US Undersecretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment Keith Krach on Thursday started a three-day visit to Taiwan. The ministry from Thursday started publicizing the actions of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in Taiwan’s ADIZ on its Web site and Twitter. According to ministry reports, 18 PLA aircraft
TWO CASES: The five allegedly conspired with conglomerates, threatening the nation’s governance and subverting the rules of ethical conduct, a deputy chief prosecutor said Taipei prosecutors yesterday charged three legislators and one former lawmaker with contravening the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例) in a case linked to former Pacific Distribution Investment Co (太平洋流通) chairman Lee Heng-lung’s (李恆隆) battle with the Far Eastern Group (遠東集團) over ownership of the Pacific SOGO Department Store (太平洋崇光百貨) chain, while independent Legislator Chao Cheng-yu (趙正宇) was indicted in a separate case involving two funeral services companies and a plot of land in a national park. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators Chen Chao-ming (陳超明) and Sufin Siluko (廖國棟), Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Su Chen-ching (蘇震清) and former New Power Party legislator
Swedish Member of Parliament Hampus Hagman is pushing for changing the name of the nation’s trade office in Taipei to signal improved relations with “Asia’s perhaps foremost democracy.” Hagman on Wednesday last week proposed renaming the Swedish Trade and Invest Council to “Sweden’s Office in Taipei,” following similar changes by other nations. The Swedish Trade and Invest Council, part of Business Sweden, is owned by the Swedish government and Swedish industry. Taiwan and Sweden share important values such as respect for democracy, human rights, the rule of law and freedom of speech, Hagman said in the motion, adding that the two nations
RSS