Some lawmakers yesterday asked Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (
"Ma owes an apology to Keelung's citizens, as they may have made the wrong decision to vote for Hsu because of Ma's recommendation," Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) Legislator Chen Chien-ming (陳建銘) told a news conference. Chen vied with Hsu for the Keelung mayorship last year.
Hsu, who was re-elected last year, was indicted on charges of corruption by the Keelung District Prosecutors' Office on Thursday.
The prosecutors said in the indictment that Hsu's decision to buy a piece of land for the city's bus park was made for his personal benefit.
"Ma should have known that Hsu had a problem of integrity, as Hsu was indicted before when Ma was justice minister. Ma should give Hsu a stern reprimand," TSU Legislator David Huang (黃適卓) said.
People First Party (PFP) Legislator Liu Wen-hsiung (劉文雄), who also vied with Hsu in the election, also demanded Ma's apology, saying that "citizens of Keelung were deceived by Hsu and Ma into thinking that Hsu would be a good mayor."
"Integrity is a basic requirement for a public servant, but Hsu lacks even that," Liu said.
regret
During a press conference yesterday at Taipei City Hall, Ma expressed his regret over Hsu's indictment, but insisted that the party will not revoke Hsu's party membership unless he is found guilty.
When a reporter asked Ma if the KMT would cancel Hsu's membership immediately in order to avoid tarnishing the party's image, Ma said that being prosecuted is not equal to being guilty, and defended the party's policy.
"Just because the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) cancels Chao Cheng-min's (
"We are following party regulations. It's important for a party to have a consistent policy for members to follow, and I think our handling of the situation so far is appropriate," Ma said.
KMT regulations state that a party member's rights should be suspended if he or she is prosecuted. The party cancels membership if a person is found guilty in the initial trial.
Ma campaigned for Hsu during last year's local government elections, and his support is seen as the main reason Hsu was able to defeat the candidates from the PFP and TSU.
Barely two weeks after Hsu began serving his second term, he was questioned by public prosecutors for more than 20 hours about his involvement in the corruption scandal.
The KMT's integrity committee also initiated an investigation of the case in January, and decided to suspend Hsu's party rights.
Ma said the party's policy about "black gold" -- the Chinese-language term for corruption -- remained the same, but will review its nomination mechanism and campaign procedure.
Meanwhile, during yesterday's National Affairs Forum, TSU Legislator Lo Chih-ming (
"Two DPP legislators who were charged with defrauding the Bureau of National Health Insurance were expelled from the party, but Hsu was not disciplined by the KMT," Lo said.
EVA Airways was ranked the eighth-best airline in the world for this year, the only Taiwanese carrier to make it into the top 25 Airline Excellence Awards this year, aviation reviews Web site AirlineRatings.com said on Wednesday. AirlineRatings.com has a seven-star rating system to evaluate more than 360 airlines around the world every year, EVA Airways said in a statement on Thursday. “We are delighted that efforts by the entire EVA staff have been recognized by Airline Ratings,” EVA Airways president Clay Sun (孫嘉明) said in the release. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the company identified and adopted services and procedures that enhance and
Exiled Chinese democracy advocate Wang Dan (王丹) yesterday denied an accusation by former Taiwanese political worker Lee Yuan-chun (李援軍) that Wang had sexually harassed him in a hotel room in New York nine years ago. There was a huge gap between Lee’s accusation and his own understanding and memory, Wang wrote on Facebook, adding it was hard for him to respond further regarding a “unilateral description” made by someone else. Wang made the remarks after his initial response on Facebook was met with criticism, with people saying he did not directly address the allegation. Lee on Friday wrote on Facebook that he
MORE WARNINGS: If the US company does not clarify and solve issues with its frozen berries, the FDA might extend an import suspension implemented last month, it said The Kaohsiung Department of Health yesterday said it fined Costco NT$4.5 million (US$146,265) over contaminated frozen strawberries, while the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said that although the US company had filed an improvement plan, an import suspension on frozen berries could remain. Three types of frozen berry products imported and sold by Costco have tested positive for the hepatitis A virus since April. The Kaohsiung health department previously fined Costco NT$300,000 for not providing the sales list of a contaminated batch of Kirkland Signature Three Berry Blend imported from Chile, in contravention of the Communicable Disease Control Act (傳染病防治法). It later
‘NEGLIGENCE’: After reporting the incident, her superior allegedly asked her why she did not scream, which was an inappropriate attempt to ignore the allegations, critics said An accusation of sexual harassment led to the resignation of a top Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) official, while President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has called for a thorough investigation into the incident involving a contractor. Vice President and DPP Chairman William Lai (賴清德) yesterday said he approved the resignation of DPP deputy secretary-general Hsu Chia-tien (許嘉恬), who headed the party’s Women’s Development Department when the alleged incident happened in September last year. “Gender equality is among our party’s core values, that we have strived for and advanced along with Taiwanese society,” Lai said. “The DPP did not handle it appropriately at the time,