Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (
Cheng submitted her resignation to Ma on Wednesday night amid criticism from the pan-green camp that Ma had turned a blind eye while Cheng was living in a rent-free apartment provided by business tycoon Chou Hsin-yi (
Ma said that although he had not been notified of Cheng's decision on Wednesday night, he did accept her letter of resignation.
"I will ask her to stay. I want her to stay, because there's no reason for her to quit the job now," he said before presiding over a municipal meeting at Taipei City Hall.
Cheng has denied ever doing Chou any favors in return for his patronage after the Chinese-language Next magazine exposed the issue and questioned her integrity.
The KMT's Evaluation and Discipline Committee had suggested that Cheng move out of the apartment, even thought it ruled that there was nothing wrong with her living there. Cheng promised to find new accommodation within a month and took a few days' leave last week in order to move out.
Ma said yesterday that Cheng has already moved into a new place, and that there was consequently no reason for her to leave the KMT, as the party needed her help to promote membership diversity.
Cheng was not available for comment last night, and her cellphone remained turned off until press time.
KMT Deputy Spokesman Huang Yu-cheng (
In her resignation statement to Ma, Cheng said: "As the KMT spokeswoman, I allowed myself to fall into the dirty game between ruling and opposition parties ... But I should've demanded higher standards of myself."
"In democratic politics, no one is irreplaceable. I am nothing but a small part. ... I still believe that Chairman Ma's resolve to reform the party is 100 percent. We are serious," she said.
A Vietnamese migrant worker on Thursday won the NT$12 million (US$383,590) jackpot on a scratch-off lottery ticket she bought from a lottery shop in Changhua County’s Puyan Township (埔鹽), Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The lottery winner, who is in her 30s and married, said she would continue to work in Taiwan and send her winnings to her family in Vietnam to improve their life. More Taiwanese and migrant workers have flocked to the lottery shop on Sec 2 of Jhangshuei Road (彰水路) to share in the luck. The shop owner, surnamed Chen (陳), said that his shop has been open for just
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
Actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has “returned home” to Taiwan, and there are no plans to hold a funeral for the TV star who died in Japan from influenza- induced pneumonia, her family said in a statement Wednesday night. The statement was released after local media outlets reported that Barbie Hsu’s ashes were brought back Taiwan on board a private jet, which arrived at Taipei Songshan Airport around 3 p.m. on Wednesday. To the reporters waiting at the airport, the statement issued by the family read “(we) appreciate friends working in the media for waiting in the cold weather.” “She has safely returned home.
TAKE BREAKS: A woman developed cystitis by refusing to get up to use the bathroom while playing mahjong for fear of disturbing her winning streak, a doctor said People should stand up and move around often while traveling or playing mahjong during the Lunar New Year holiday, as prolonged sitting can lead to cystitis or hemorrhoids, doctors said. Yuan’s General Hospital urologist Lee Tsung-hsi (李宗熹) said that he treated a 63-year-old woman surnamed Chao (趙) who had been sitting motionless and holding off going to the bathroom, increasing her risk of bladder infection. Chao would drink beverages and not urinate for several hours while playing mahjong with friends and family, especially when she was on a winning streak, afraid that using the bathroom would ruin her luck, he said. She had