A spat between Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Central Policy Committee director Alex Tsai (蔡正元) and former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) office entered day three yesterday after Tsai criticized Ma for comments about the 228 Incident.
Responding to calls to punish those responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of people during the White Terror era following the 228 Incident, Ma on Monday said at an event marking the 70th anniversary of the Incident that because Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) was president at the time, he “should naturally be held accountable.”
The extent of Chiang’s responsibility was up to people to determine for themselves by studying public information, Ma said.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Tsai on Monday said that Ma is not in a position to assign responsibility for the 228 Incident, because he enjoyed “eight years of wealth and rank.”
“Ma’s small disciples” should be reminded that then-governor-general Chen Yi (陳儀), who ordered police and military action against protesters during the 288 Incident, was less corrupt than Ma, Tsai said, without saying who the “disciples” were.
Ma office spokeswoman Hsu Chiao-hsin (徐巧芯) on Thursday said Tsai was not as righteous as his comments made him appear to be, citing a ruling that found Tsai had taken shares from Central Motion Picture Corp and registered them in his own name.
Tsai lost an appeal to overturn the ruling and in May last year was ordered to pay the corporation NT$170 million (US$5.48 million).
“If you want to talk about who is most harmful to the KMT, nobody can compete with Alex Tsai,” Hsu said.
She said Tsai was harming camaraderie among party members by making unsubstantiated attacks on former party chairpersons.
“Could it be that party headquarters is going to let its officials continue to run amok?” Hsu asked, adding that if KMT Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) continues to indulge Tsai, it would be detrimental to the party caucus and negatively affect preparations for the May 20 party chairperson election.
Tsai said he is open to discuss his dealings with Central Motion Picture.
“However, you [Hsu] have to remember that at the end of the war, the one who would be most injured would not be Alex Tsai, but ‘he who is the greatest’ in your heart,” Tsai said, an apparent reference to Ma.
Tsai said that he was going to write a memoir about the Central Motion Picture case when he was much older, as well as a story about Somali pirates, “because both incidents involve ‘the greatest,’ but if you [Hsu] want to extend the war to infinity, I am ready,” Tsai said.
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OFFLINE: People who do not wish to register can get the money from select ATMs using their bank card, ID number and National Health Insurance card number Online registration for NT$6,000 (US$196.32) cash payments drawn from last year’s tax surplus is to open today for eligible people whose national ID or permanent residency number ends in either a zero or a one, the Ministry of Finance said on Monday. Officials from the ministry revealed which days Taiwanese and eligible foreigners would be able to register for the cash payments at a joint news conference with the Ministry of Digital Affairs. Online registration is to open tomorrow for those whose number ends in a two or three; on Friday for those that end in a four or five: on Saturday
Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) officials are investigating why a Starlux Airlines flight to Penang, Malaysia, returned to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport nearly two hours after takeoff yesterday morning. The airline said in a statement that Flight JX721 to Penang took off from Taoyuan airport at 9:20am. “After the dashboard showed a signal of an abnormality in the hydraulic system, the captain followed standard operating procedures and returned the flight to Taoyuan airport for safety precautions,” the airline said, adding that the flight landed safely at the airport at 11:04am. The airline arranged for the passengers to have lunch after the flight landed and
WORKING UP AN APPETITE: Sales at the Rueifong Night Market surged 20 to 30 percent, while seats at Liouhe Night Market were packed until 1am, market officials said South Korean pop band Blackpink’s concerts over the weekend in Kaohsiung helped draw large crowds to local night markets, the Kaohsiung City Government said yesterday. The two concerts on Saturday and Sunday at Kaohsiung National Stadium drew more than 90,000 people. The city government offered NT$50 vouchers to spend locally to concertgoers who showed their ticket stubs. Liouhe Night Market (六合夜市) management committee head Chuang Chi-chang (莊其章) said that crowds over the weekend surged at about 10pm and the market remained packed until 1:30am. “Almost all the seats were filled,” Chuang said. Night market stall owners had stocked up in expectation of an increased number