With only three weeks to go before the voters head to the polls, the war of words between the two major contenders in Taipei has become firmly fixed on allegations of telephone tapping at an office of independent candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲).
After a campaign rally yesterday, Ko called for an end to speculation over who was responsible for the cables supposedly used for to tap some of his campaign office phone lines that were discovered late on Tuesday.
The dust-up between Ko’s camp and that of Chinese Nationalist Party (KTM) rival Sean Lien (連勝文), began after Lien’s campaign office director released what he said was Ko’s plans for a city hall management team on Tuesday.
Photo: Wang Min-wei, Taipei Times
Ko says the matter should be left to the police, who are investigating the allegations of phone-tapping.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lee Ying-yuan (李應元) said that staff member have turned over “evidence” to police and he is confident they will get to the bottom of who was behind the alleged devices.
KMT Legislator Alex Tsai (蔡正元), Lien’s executive campaign director has blamed the Ko camp for executing what he called a “standard framing incident,” but doing it clumsily. The office originally said there were recording devices, but later said there were only “suspicious” phone cables after police arrived, Tsai said.
A private telecommunications operator had checked the switchboard on Tuesday, but did not find any such cables, Tsai said.
There were three “suspects” in Ko’s camp who might have been behind the placement to spur sympathy for Ko, he said.
Ko’s campaign staff said they had no reason to try a sympathy ploy because their candidate has been leading in opinion polls.
Police said they are continuing their investigation. However, so far they have found that some of the cables seized from the office were not used for wiretapping.
UPGRADE: The Kang Ding-class frigate is replacing its Chaparall missiles with Tien Chien II and Hua Yang VLS, which would provide it with long-range, 360° air defense Taiwan plans to produce 1,200 to 1,376 Hai Chien II missiles (海劍二, Sea Sword II) — also known as TC-2N — to serve as the standard air defense system of the navy’s surface combatant fleet, a source said yesterday. Last week, the Hai Chien II, the naval version of the Tien Kung II missile (天劍二, Sky Sword II), completed a live-fire test in waters off the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology’s Jiupeng facility (九鵬) in Pingtung County’s Manjhou Township (滿州). The MIM72 Chaparral and other dated air defense missiles that currently arm Taiwanese ships have inadequate range to combat Chinese
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Johanne Liou (劉喬安), a Taiwanese woman who shot to unwanted fame during the Sunflower movement protests in 2014, returned to Taiwan last night after being deported from the US. She is to stand trial in Taiwan for charges involving embezzlement, fraud and drug crimes. The Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said it took her into custody at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and would first question her before transferring her to the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. She was arrested upon disembarking a flight from San Francisco that landed shortly before 7pm. Liou absconded to the US in 2019 after jumping bail
RSS