Amid allegations of influence pedaling, KMT Legislator Hsu Shu-po (
DPP lawmakers have suggested that Hsu, a long-time member of the committee, lobbied on behalf of some illegal quarry operators along the Choshui River (
PHOTO: CNA
According to DPP Legislator Su Chih-fen (
Hsu, however, dismissed Su's allegations as "farfetched," saying he was the one who pushed through a set of strict regulations to control quarrying activities three years ago.
He also said he has worked with the police on numerous occasions to crack down on the illegal quarrying operations.
The recent accusations have not been the first time Hsu has aroused suspicion in his three terms as a legislator.
No stranger to controversy
Questions were raised about Hsu's role when it was disclosed that his family, who runs the Transworld Institute of Technology (環球技術學院), rents the institute's offices from the Taiwan Sugar Corporation for only NT$8 a ping. Hsu serves on the institute's board.
State-run enterprises are under the management of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and thus are subject to supervision by the Economics and Energy Committee.
Early start
Raised in a family with both political and business interests, Hsu was first elected a legislator in 1995 at the age of 32, winning 67,076 votes -- the highest number in his constituency in Yunlin County.
He set a record of becoming the youngest member of the KMT's Central Standing Committee in 50 years when he was first elected to the committee in 2000.
Analysts have generally attributed Hsu's early success to the extensive contact that his family has maintained with various local communities.
In addition to the support of the influential political clan established by his father, the clout enjoyed by Hsu's in-laws within the construction and tourism industries has been another valuable resource in his political career.
"Like most traditional politicians, he built his campaign network on the support of vote captains (
Hsu Shu-po's father, Hsu Wen-tsu (許文志), was commissioner of Yunlin County for eight years until he was appointed head of the Taiwan Provincial Government's Department of Reconstruction in 1990.
In 1994 he was promoted again, this time as the provincial government's secretary-general.
Hsu Wen-tsu held several other important government positions, including head of the KMT's Department of Organization and national policy adviser to former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), until his retirement in 2000.
Bumpy road
Hsu Shu-po's political climb has not been without setbacks.
Hsu failed his first legislative bid in 1992 by 1,000 votes.
In 1999, he vied for the KMT's nomination to run in the by-election for Yunlin County commissioner held after the death of commissioner Su Wen-hsiung (
The KMT first decided to nominate Hsu but later changed its mind, triggering strong protest from the legislator.
The opposition from local political factions in rivalry to the Hsu family was reportedly responsible for the twist, as there was anxiety among these factions that the political leverage of the Hsu family would continue to expand if Hsu won the position of commissioner.
Su Chih-fen, who was also elected from Yunlin County, said the decline in the number of votes won by Hsu in the legislative elections indicates that the influence of the Hsu family in Yunlin County is waning.
Compared with his overwhelming victory in 1995, the number of votes won by Hsu Shu-po dropped to 45,648 during his 1998 re-election bid. Last year, the number further slid to 31,886, making Hsu the winner with the least votes in Yunlin County.
Su attributed the downward trend to the controversies surrounding Hsu Shu-po.
"A key problem is the bus-inesses run by his family," Su said.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the
The National Immigration Agency has banned two Chinese from returning to Taiwan, after they published social media content it described as disrespectful to national sovereignty. The agency imposed a two-month ban on a Chinese man surnamed Liang (梁) and a permanent ban on a woman surnamed Yang (楊), an influencer with 23 million followers, in October last year and last week respectively. Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) yesterday said on the sidelines of a legislative meeting that Chinese visitors to Taiwan are required to comply with the rules and regulations governing their entry permits. The government has handled the ban and
RSS