DPP Secretary-General Wu Nai-jen
Wu made the comments in response to allegations that his New Tide faction manipulated the bank's board election.
"[Liu] must have made his own decision on who should be elected and who should be got rid of," Wu said, adding that Liu's act has undermined the mutual trust between Lee and Chen.
According to Wu, knowing President Chen Shui-bian (
Liu formerly served as advisor to ex-President Lee Teng-hui (李登輝).
Wu said that while it's unlikely that the Presidential Office had decided to back Hu only to later back down on its decision, instead it's more likely that Liu rejected the Presidential Office's arrangement. That arrangement -- according to media speculation -- with Chen in a last minute change of heart, threw his support behind Liu and 13 other pro-Liu board candidates.
Wu insisted that his New Tide faction (
China Development Industrial Bank, one of Taiwan's most influential investment banks, on Thursday appointed the president of its venture capital subsidiary to replace current bank President Benny Hu. Hu has been acting bank president since 1993. The bank this week held a shareholder meeting and resurrected the authority of bank chairman Liu.
Taking over Hu's job is Lin Chun (
According to New Party legislator Lai Shyh-bao (
Lai added that, now that Liu has control over the "giant financial institution," he could certainly help the pro-Lee alliance to secure electoral funds by "privately pledging a political donation from industries and enterprises that are associated with the bank."
Brushing aside Lai's concerns, Ho Min-hao (
"I believe that Liu has squeezed Hu out of his strong former KMT connections [within the bank]," Ho said, adding that the relationship between Lee and Chen could sometimes be competitive and at other times, be cooperative."
Despite all the turmoil, political analysts yesterday argued that Lee has now successfully laid down the groundwork for the pro-Taiwan alliance, which seems to be well-prepared for the year-end elections. They said that Lee has former interior minister Huang Chu-wen (黃主文) to help him recruit alliance members and legislative candidates for the alliance and Liu to finance the year-end elections while Lee himself is adept at setting and promoting the political agenda. Lee has, in addition, been previously quoted as saying that he intended to train 50 politicians himself to form a political party.
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY: Taiwan shares the same values as those that fought in WWII, and nations must unite to halt the expansion of a new authoritarian bloc, Lai said The government yesterday held a commemoration ceremony for Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, joining the rest of the world for the first time to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Taiwan honoring V-E Day signifies “our growing connections with the international community,” President William Lai (賴清德) said at a reception in Taipei on the 80th anniversary of V-E Day. One of the major lessons of World War II is that “authoritarianism and aggression lead only to slaughter, tragedy and greater inequality,” Lai said. Even more importantly, the war also taught people that “those who cherish peace cannot
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Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
The Philippines yesterday criticized a “high-risk” maneuver by a Chinese vessel near the disputed Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島) in a rare incident involving warships from the two navies. The Scarborough Shoal — a triangular chain of reefs and rocks in the contested South China Sea — has been a flash point between the countries since China seized it from the Philippines in 2012. Taiwan also claims the shoal. Monday’s encounter took place approximately 11.8 nautical miles (22km) southeast” of the Scarborough Shoal, the Philippine military said, during ongoing US-Philippine military exercises that Beijing has criticized as destabilizing. “The Chinese frigate BN 554 was
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