The New Power Party (NPP) on Saturday suspended party chairman Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) over his alleged involvement in a bribery case.
The NPP made the decision after the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office on Saturday afternoon filed a motion with the Taipei District Court to detain Hsu, along with legislators Chen Chao-ming (陳超明) and Sufin Siluko of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), Su Chen-ching (蘇震清) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and Chao Cheng-yu (趙正宇), an independent, over their alleged involvement in a department store bribery case.
The NPP said it has appointed caucus whip Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智) as acting chairman until an intra-party election for chairperson is held early next year.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Chiu was NPP chairman from March to August last year.
In response to Hsu’s alleged involvement in the corruption case during his tenure as an NPP legislator from 2016 to this year, Chiu apologized to the public and NPP supporters on behalf of the party, saying that as acting chairman, his most important tasks are to regain public trust, reflect on old mistakes and guide the party forward.
The NPP has “zero tolerance” for corruption, he said, adding that he was thankful for the investigation, as it has given the party an opportunity to improve.
Chiu said he would improve the party’s mechanisms to detect and fight corruption, and would present more details about how to achieve those goals in two weeks.
As to whether Hsu would be stripped of his party membership, Chiu said that its disciplinary committee was following party regulations in suspending Hsu’s chairman position for the moment.
While there are only 11 members left on the party’s decisionmaking committee, Chiu said he would propose that they resign and be replaced with new candidates to break fresh ground.
Chiu said that he stepped down as chairman in August last year to take responsibility for failing to form a consistent political line among party members, and now that he has been entrusted with the role again, he would do the necessary work to achieve that goal.
The NPP gives young people with no political backgrounds a chance to enter politics, and it balances power by keeping other parties in check, Chiu said.
Former NPP legislator Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌), who is close with Hsu, wrote on Facebook that integrity and opposition to corruption have always been the party’s fundamental values, calling on the authorities to conduct a thorough probe.
Huang said he agreed with the party’s disciplinary action against Hsu, adding that he believes the party would live up to supporters’ expectations.
Meanwhile, NPP Secretary-General Chen Hui-min (陳志明) yesterday wrote on Facebook that “the reason Hsu was involved in the corruption case this time is because the party is unable to pay salaries, so he borrowed money to do it.”
He deleted the post shortly after it was posted.
It is not the first time the party has faced financial problems, he said, citing the 2018 nine-in-one elections, when the party also had to borrow money.
Additional reporting by Yang Chun-hui
PACIFIC OCEAN: Defense experts have warned that the ‘Shandong,’ China’s second largest aircraft carrier, poses a serious threat to eastern Taiwan’s defenses The drills conducted by the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong in the Western Pacific last week were more aimed at showcasing China’s military capabilities to the US rather than toward Taiwan, a Taiwanese defense expert said yesterday. Lin Yin-yu (林穎佑), an assistant professor at Tamkang University’s Graduate Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies, said the drills which involved dozens of warplanes sought to test China’s anti-access and area denial capabilities should the US and its allies attempt to interfere in a cross-strait conflict. Lin said that the latest Chinese drills coincided with a joint maritime exercise conducted by the US, South Korea
Thousands of bottles of Sriracha have been returned or destroyed after the discovery of excessive sulfur dioxide, a bleaching agent, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced on Tuesday. About 12,600 bottles totaling 9,991.8kg of the hot sauce imported from the US by Emporium Corp (河洛企業) were flagged at the border for containing illegal levels of sulfur dioxide, the FDA said in its regular border inspection announcement. Inspectors discovered 0.5g per kilogram of the common bleaching agent and preservative, higher than the 0.03g permitted, it said. As it is the first time within six months the product has been flagged, Sriracha products from
Two people were killed and another nine injured yesterday after being stung by hornets while hiking in New Taipei City’s Rueifang District (瑞芳), with officials warning against wearing perfume or straying from trails during the autumn to avoid the potentially deadly creatures. Seven of the hikers only sustained minor injuries after being stung along the Bafenliao Hiking Trail (八分寮) and made their way down the mountain with a guide, the New Taipei City Fire Department said. Four of them — all male — sustained more serious injuries and were assisted when leaving the mountain, the department said. Two of them, a man surnamed
CHANGES: While NCCU opened the nation’s first co-ed dorm in Mucha, a recent survey showed that Taiwanese are in favor of abolishing gender segregation at high schools National Chengchi University (NCCU) has opened a co-ed dormitory, a first in Taiwan among state-funded Taiwan universities. The 22 duplexes are at the renovated “Huanan New Village,” in Taipei City’s Mucha (木柵) area, near the NCCU campus, a school official said yesterday. Twenty-two out of 37 group applications were selected in a lottery draw to select who would be chosen to live in the units, which can either be shared by up to eight students if the unit has four bedrooms, or up to 10 students if it is a five-bedroom unit, officials said. Completed in 1964 for campus staff housing,
RSS