Chinese Nationalist Party KMT Chairman Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) yesterday morning apologized for referring to Presidential Office Secretary-General Chen Chu (陳菊) as “a fat sow” and said that although he made an inappropriate comment on Saturday, he longs for clean and honest elections.
Wu made the remark about the former Kaohsiung mayor during an event for KMT Kaohsiung mayoral candidate Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜).
It was a “non-public event with about 10 or 20 people,” the former vice president and premier, who also served as Kaohsiung mayor from 1990 to 1998, said yesterday.
Photo: CNA
Wu said that he was an old friend of former Examination Yuan member Huang Chun-ying (黃俊英) and that several people at Saturday’s event had come from Huang’s hometown.
He and some of them got emotional when the subject turned to the Kaohsiung mayoral election 12 years ago, when Huang was a candidate, he said.
Huang lost the election due to false rumors of bribery and remained deeply troubled by the allegations until he died, Wu said.
His comment about Chen was “inappropriate,” whether as an “indirect reference to her or description about her,” Wu said as he bowed in front of photographers to Chen and others hurt by his remark.
He asked KMT Vice Secretary-General Cheng Li-wen (鄭麗文) on Saturday to apologize to the public on his behalf, Wu said.
The most important thing is to ensure elections are “clean, honest” and “free of unethical moves,” he said, adding that this is what he deeply longs for and has always believed in throughout his decades-long political career.
Han is also against unethical election efforts, Wu said, referring to Han’s remarks at an event on Saturday that he would rather “lose the election while keeping his integrity than win by cheating.”
There was no need for Han to join him in an apology, because the inappropriate comment was his alone, Wu added.
Asked if his remark could hurt the KMT’s campaign, Wu said it would not, adding that he had apologized for what needed an apology.
Asked why he had not immediately apologized on Saturday, Wu said the first reports on his remark said it was an “insinuation.”
Whether it was a direct comment on Chen was irrelevant to the fact that it was inappropriate, he said.
Wu’s Facebook account was flooded by Han’s supporters demanding that he take responsibility for his remark, and Wu said that he respects their opinions.
He reiterated that he had “apologized for what needed an apology and would insist on what needs to be insisted on.”
At a Democratic Progressive Party rally in Kaohsiung last night, Chen made her first comment on the issue, telling the crowd: “I am a daughter of Taiwanese, I am not a big sow.”
US PUBLICATION: The results indicated a change in attitude after a 2023 survey showed 55 percent supported full-scale war to achieve unification, the report said More than half of Chinese were against the use of force to unify with Taiwan under any circumstances, a survey conducted by the Atlanta, Georgia-based Carter Center and Emory University found. The survey results, which were released on Wednesday in a report titled “Sovereignty, Security, & US-China Relations: Chinese Public Opinion,” showed that 55.1 percent of respondents agreed or somewhat agreed that “the Taiwan problem should not be resolved using force under any circumstances,” while 24.5 percent “strongly” or “somewhat” disagreed with the statement. The results indicated a change in attitude after a survey published in “Assessing Public Support for (Non)Peaceful Unification
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
SHIFT: Taiwan’s better-than-expected first-quarter GDP and signs of weakness in the US have driven global capital back to emerging markets, the central bank head said The central bank yesterday blamed market speculation for the steep rise in the local currency, and urged exporters and financial institutions to stay calm and stop panic sell-offs to avoid hurting their own profitability. The nation’s top monetary policymaker said that it would step in, if necessary, to maintain order and stability in the foreign exchange market. The remarks came as the NT dollar yesterday closed up NT$0.919 to NT$30.145 against the US dollar in Taipei trading, after rising as high as NT$29.59 in intraday trading. The local currency has surged 5.85 percent against the greenback over the past two sessions, central