The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday denied media personality Clara Chou (周玉蔻) a chance to present herself at the party’s Central Standing Committee meeting to appeal against her expulsion from the party.
The Evaluation and Discipline Committee of the party’s Taipei chapter on Tuesday decided to expel Chou from the party, with chapter director Chung Tse-liang (鍾則良) saying that remarks made by Chou during the campaigns leading up to the nine-in-one election on Nov. 29 had damaged the party’s reputation.
Chou has alleged that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) accepted an off-the-books political donation of NT$200 million (US$6.29 million) from Ting Hsin International Group (頂新國際集團) during his re-election campaign in 2012.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
Ma has denied the allegation and filed criminal and civil suits against Chou on Tuesday.
Earlier yesterday, Chou said she was like a person drowning after being put into a bag and thrown into the sea.
“I had no chance to fight back,” she said.
Chou was among 21 KMT members who were stripped of party membership on Tuesday for what the party said were violations of various party rules during the campaign.
Asked to respond to Chou’s comments, KMT spokesperson Charles Chen (陳以信) said anyone who was not happy with the decision made by the party’s Evaluation and Discipline Committee could appeal against the ruling in accordance with established procedures.
Meanwhile, former Presidential Office deputy secretary-general Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) yesterday posted an article on Facebook rebutting Chou’s allegation that he had tried to intervene in the battle for ownership of Chang Hwa Bank (彰化銀行) between Taishin Financial Holdings (台新金控) and the Ministry of Finance in Taishin’s favor because he had dined with Chang Hwa Bank chairman Thomas Wu (吳東亮) last year.
Lo said the meeting was arranged by Chou and accused her of setting him up.
A study published by online booking platform Expedia revealed searches for travel to Taipei have ballooned 2,786 percent following the lifting of COVID-19 pandemic travel restrictions due to the city being a “designation dupe” for Seoul. The TikTok trend for duping — referring to substituting a designation for a more inexpensive alternative — helped propel interest in Taipei, it said in a consumer survey titled “Unpack ‘24,” which was conducted from September to October in 14 countries. Location dupes are “every bit as delightful as the tried-and-true places travelers love,” Expedia trend tracker Melanie Fish said of the year’s popular alternatives, which
SAFETY IN REGULATION: The proposal states that Chiayi should assess whether it is viable to establish such a district and draft rules to protect clients and sex workers The Chiayi City Council passed a motion yesterday to assess the viability of establishing a regulated red-light district. The council yesterday held its last session of the year, at which its fiscal 2024 budget was approved, along with 61 other proposals. The proposal to assess the viability of establishing a red-light district was put forward by independent Chiayi City Councilor Molly Yen (顏色不分藍綠支持性專區顏色田慎節). The proposal cited 2011 amendments to the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法), which stipulate that city and county governments can pass autonomous regulations on the sex trade to manage the industry and guarantee industry workers’ rights. A ban on the
A small-scale protest that called on the government to cancel its plan to welcome Indian migrant workers in a bid to tackle Taiwan’s labor shortage was held in Taipei yesterday. During the protest, comprised of a few dozen people staged in front of the Presidential Office on Ketagalan Boulevard, the protest’s chief initiator, a woman identified only as “Yuna” said they wanted the central government to reconsider allowing migrant workers from India to enter Taiwan. Most people in Taiwan had little knowledge about the potential plan to allow in Indian migrant workers until a report in the media last month, she
STABILITY AND CHANGE: Flagging in recent polls, Ko this week pledged to maintain President Tsai’s foreign policy, with an emphasis on improving China relations Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday reiterated that he is “deep-green at heart” in response to accusations that he is pivoting his campaign to align closer with the ideology of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in the face of flagging polls. Ko made the remark at an agricultural policy conference in Taipei, repeating his comments from an interview with CTS News a day earlier. Ko told the CTS host that he would continue to pursue President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) national defense and foreign policy in general, but with an emphasis on establishing a rapport with
RSS