Three former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Central Standing Committee members yesterday appealed a party decision to suspend their party membership rights for election bribery, while some suspended members had friends register for the CSC by-election.
Former KMT legislator Lee Chuan-chiao (李全教) protested the party’s suspension of his rights for three months over bribery allegations, insisting that he should still be considered a CSC member because he never agreed to resign.
“I feel wronged by the disciplinary action against me because I never sent gifts to party delegates. Those gifts were sent by my supporters,” he said.
Another two members whose rights were suspended, Yao Chiang-lin (姚江臨) and Lai Diao-tsan (賴調燦), also appealed the decision, saying they were innocent.
They were among 12 members whose rights were suspended by the KMT Evaluation and Disciplinary Committee for vote-buying in the CSC election on Oct. 11.
Lai and another suspended member, Hua Jen (華真), ignored the disciplinary action and registered for the by-election, but the disciplinary committee rejected their applications yesterday.
The disciplinary committee approved 73 members to run in the by-election on Nov. 14.
Yao, KMT Legislator Chen Chieh (陳杰) and Core Pacific Group (威京集團) chairman Shen Ching-ching (沈慶京) asked family members or friends to run for them in the by-election.
Members of the so-called “Ma troop,” including six KMT Taipei City councilors and Deputy Taipei Mayor Lee Yong-ping (李永萍), also registered for the by-election.
Meanwhile, KMT spokesman Lee Chien-jung (李建榮) said KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) would meet the candidates tonight and address the issue of eliminating election bribery to reform the party.
The party will elect 32 CSC members in the by-election on Nov. 14, who will take office on Nov. 18.
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
A BETRAYAL? It is none of the ministry’s business if those entertainers love China, but ‘you cannot agree to wipe out your own country,’ the MAC minister said Taiwanese entertainers in China would have their Taiwanese citizenship revoked if they are holding Chinese citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said. Several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑) and Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜), earlier this month on their Weibo (微博) accounts shared a picture saying that Taiwan would be “returned” to China, with tags such as “Taiwan, Province of China” or “Adhere to the ‘one China’ principle.” The MAC would investigate whether those Taiwanese entertainers have Chinese IDs and added that it would revoke their Taiwanese citizenship if they did, Chiu told the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper
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