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.”
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS