Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Alex Tsai (蔡正元) has lashed out at the Appendectomy Project, saying that the campaign urging for the public to recall him was “ridiculous.”
Voters in Tsai’s constituency — Taipei’s Neihu (內湖) and Nangang (南港) districts — are to participate in a referendum to determine Tsai’s fate on Saturday next week, following a successful petition launched by the project last year which garnered the support of nearly 60,000 people.
Tsai’s official statement of defense, 11 pages long, was published yesterday on the Central Election Commission’s Web site.
BLAME THE KIDS
Tsai accused activists from the Appendectomy Project of acting under the orders of “chieftains of the Sunflower movement.”
He launched vehement critiques of the leaders of the Sunflower movement, including Academia Sinica researcher Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) and student activist Chen Wei-ting (陳為廷), saying that their “illegal behavior” during the Sunflower movement protests last year contributed to the “corruption of modern society.”
In the statement, Tsai denied the nine specific allegations listed in the recall application, among them discrimination toward children of Taiwanese men and foreign women, support for a gambling district in Greater Taoyuan, and a low rate in fulfilling his inquiry duties with government officials at the legislature.
FOREIGN BRIDES
He said that his remarks about the children of foreign brides were made in an effort to increase funding for the underprivileged group, adding that without help from the authorities, the children might become “the biggest source of criminal activity in Taiwanese society” when they become adults.
He also said gambling near South Korea’s Incheon interantional Airport has proved beneficial to the South Korean economy and accused his detractors of shortsightedness.
In response, Huang said that Tsai was beyond help, adding that the KMT legislator exhibited “malicious ignorance” that prompted questions on the quality of the nation’s legislators.
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