Facing a lawsuit by former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅) over comments that he was placed on the party’s legislator-at-large list for January’s elections as if by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday said that he was just being honest.
Chiu was eighth on the list when it was announced on Nov. 13, but he withdrew following criticism that the candidates included some with controversial views regarding China.
The New Party on Thursday announced its legislator-at-large list, with Chiu atop it.
Photo: CNA
Ko on Friday told reporters that the New Party’s list “looked like it has been nominated by the CCP,” and that Chiu’s “nomination by the KMT and the New Party means that China’s Taiwan Affairs Office has pretty good control over them.”
Chiu and New Party members yesterday filed a lawsuit at the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office, accusing Ko of defamation and breach of the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選罷法).
Ko yesterday said that “the deep-blue camp calls me the pan-green camp, the deep-green camp calls me the pan-blue camp, but actually we just want to remain in the middle, because with the US-China economic conflict and tense cross-strait relations, staying on the middle path will bring the maximum benefit to Taiwan.”
Ko said he was surprised that the KMT did not change its list after its revisions were criticized.
This made him ask what force was behind the list, he said.
“It is even more interesting with Chiu, who was first nominated by the KMT and later by the New Party, so it is easy to guess who is the boss behind both,” Ko said.
“Sometimes, I am the only one to say what everyone thinks; I am audacious in that way, that’s all,” he said. “I was just being honest.”
EVA Airways today confirmed the death of a flight attendant on Saturday upon their return to Taiwan and said an internal investigation has been launched, as criticism mounted over a social media post accusing the airline of failing to offer sufficient employee protections. According to the post, the flight attendant complained of feeling sick on board a flight, but was unable to take sick leave or access medical care. The crew member allegedly did not receive assistance from the chief purser, who failed to heed their requests for medical attention or call an ambulance once the flight landed, the post said. As sick
A drunk woman was sexually assaulted inside a crowded concourse of Taipei Railway Station on Thursday last week before a foreign tourist notified police, leading to calls for better education on bystander intervention and review of security infrastructure. The man, surnamed Chiu (邱), was taken into custody on charges of sexual assault, taking advantage of the woman’s condition and public indecency. Police discovered that Chiu was a fugitive with prior convictions for vehicle theft. He has been taken into custody and is to complete his unserved six-month sentence, police said. On Thursday last week, Chiu was seen wearing a white
EVA Airways, one of the leading international carriers in Taiwan, yesterday said that it was investigating reports that a cabin crew manager had ignored the condition of a sick flight attendant, who died on Saturday. The airline made the statement in response to a post circulating on social media that said that the flight attendant on an outbound flight was feeling sick and notified the cabin crew manager. Although the flight attendant grew increasingly ill on the return flight, the manager did not contact Medlink — a system that connects the aircraft to doctors on the ground for treatment advice during medical
The Taichung District Court yesterday confirmed its final ruling that the marriage between teenage heir Lai (賴) and a man surnamed Hsia (夏) was legally invalid, preventing Hsia from inheriting Lai’s NT$500 million (US$16.37 million) estate. The court confirmed that Hsia chose not to appeal the civil judgement after the court handed down its ruling in June, making the decision final. In the June ruling, the court said that Lai, 18, and Hsia, 26, showed “no mutual admiration before the marriage” and that their interactions were “distant and unfamiliar.” The judge concluded that the couple lacked the “true intention of
RSS