A protest against the Taipei City Government for ignoring the rights of the equestrian industry earlier this month has inadvertently put deputy mayor King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) the center of a political storm for alleged corruption and cronyism.
The Hannover Equestrian Club, the nation's largest equestrian facility, brought 60 horses to the city government building on April 6 to oppose the city's plan to tear down the club and accused King of taking free horse-riding lessons at the club before its closure.
According to Hsu An-cheng (
"King demanded that the city government tear down Hannover for violating the city's land use regulations, while at the same time enjoying free rides at our club," Hsu said.
The accusation prompted Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) city councilors to look into the matter. They later questioned King about possible collusion between him and Hsieh amid the free horse-riding controversy.
"Although King was not the deputy city mayor when he accepted free horse rides, he recommended Hsieh for the city government's advisor position after returning to the city government," said DPP City Councilor Lan Shih-tsung (
"Hsieh has been involved in some city advertising projects since becoming an adviser for the city. We strongly suspect that King and Hsieh are pursuing private profits at the expense of the public interest and demand King explain the matter," Lan said.
Responding to the accusation, King acknowledged that he never paid for horse-riding lessons at the club between 1993 and 1994, but denied any collaboration with Hsieh.
"Hsieh is simply a friend. I did accept his invitation to go horse riding for free, but Hsieh paid for the services and there was no clandestine activities here," King said during a question-and-answer session in the city council earlier this month.
"I did recommend Hsieh to take on the city government's advertising projects and to become an adviser, but that's because government officials asked me for candidates. There is no personal interest involved," said King, adding that the whole issue is a ploy by the club aimed at tarnishing his name, because they are angry at the government's decision to tear down its building.
The Hannover Equestrian Club applied for a "stock farm certificate" from the economic development department of the city government in 2000. The department rejected the application because of the construction materials used, which violated the Taipei City Land Use Development Regulations (
The city government then listed the club as the second-largest building constructed without a license in the city, and last month tore down the facility.
The DPP's Taipei City caucus reported King's alleged corruption to the Taipei Investigation Bureau under the Ministry of Justice last week. The bureau promised to look into the case.
Meanwhile, King declined to answer questions about the number of times he went riding at the club and how much money Hsieh had paid for his horse-riding activities.
He denounced both the club and city councilor Lan for slandering him, saying he would file a complaint against them and pledged to continue his goal of tearing down any building that doesn't meet the city's regulations.
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