President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) could meet a week from today at the Presidential Office’s ceremony commemorating the birth of Confucius (孔子).
It would be the first time the two will be in the same place since allegations of improper lobbying were raised against Wang on Sept. 6.
That was the day the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office Special Investigation Division (SID) accused Wang of trying to take legal pressure off Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) by allegedly lobbying former minister of justice Tseng Yung-fu (曾勇夫), High Prosecutors’ Office Head Prosecutor Chen Shou-huang (陳守煌) and High Prosecutors’ Office prosecutor Lin Shiow-tao (林秀濤).
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
Ma followed up on the allegations on Sept. 8 by calling Wang’s alleged actions unacceptable and “a disgrace on Taiwanese democracy and complete disregard for the rule of law.”
Ma and Wang have not met since Wang returned to Taipei on Tuesday last week from the wedding of one of his daughters in Malaysia.
Although the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Discipline and Evaluation Committee decided to revoke Wang’s party membership, the Taipei District Court ruled on Saturday last week on an appeal for an injunction that Wang filed, saying he may keep his rights as KMT member if he paid NT$9.38 million (US$315,000) as a collateral deposit.
However, the Taipei High Administrative Court denied Wang’s request for the legislature not to void his status as a lawmaker.
The Presidential Office said that Ma had no plans to appear in the public this week, but he would attend several ceremonies next week to mark Confucius’ birth.
Both Ma and Wang are scheduled to attend the Presidential Office’s ceremony on Friday next week and it was difficult to say whether they would bump into each other at other ceremonies the following day, the Presidential Office said.
Ma’s stance on the improper lobbying scandal was that it was a grave matter that had no gray areas, and that he could not overlook any incident which would harm the concept of justice and equality and damage judicial independence, the Presidential Office said.
It declined to comment on a possible meeting between Ma and Wang on Friday.
Chinese spouse and influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China videos that threaten national security, the National Immigration Agency confirmed today. Guan Guan has said many controversial statements in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” and expressing hope for expedited reunification. The agency last year received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification. After verifying the reports, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and explain her actions. Guan
The Kaohsiung Tourism Bureau audited six hotels in an effort to prevent price gouging ahead of Korean band BTS’ concert tour in the city scheduled for Nov. 19, 21 and 22 this year. The bureau on Friday said that the audits — conducted in response to allegations of unfair pricing posted on social media — found no wrongdoing. These establishments included the local branches of Chateau de Chine, Hotel Nikko, My Humble House, and Grand Hai Lai, it said, adding that the Consumer Protection Commission would have penalized price gougers had the accusations been substantiated. The bureau said the Tourism Development Act
BACK TO WINTER: A strong continental cold air mass would move south on Tuesday next week, bringing colder temperatures to northern and central Taiwan A tropical depression east of the Philippines could soon be upgraded to be the first tropical storm of this year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the next cold air mass is forecast to arrive on Monday next week. CWA forecaster Cheng Jie-ren (鄭傑仁) said the first tropical depression of this year is over waters east of the Philippines, about 1,867km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), and could strengthen into Tropical Storm Nokaen by early today. The system is moving slowly from northwest to north, and is expected to remain east of the Philippines with little chance of affecting Taiwan,
The military yesterday said it has located the flight data recorder, or black box, of an F-16V jet that disappeared off eastern Taiwan earlier this month, and it would soon deploy a salvage team to try to retrieve it. Air Force Command Headquarters said that while it had pinned down the location of the black box, it was still searching for the aircraft’s sole pilot, air force Captain Hsin Po-yi (辛柏毅). Without providing details, the air force said it had located the black box days after detecting some intermittent signals and would now engage a team of professionals to retrieve it. The air
RSS