The Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday rejected a local news report saying that its staff have been using the party’s caucus office in the Legislative Yuan as their working space, while confirming that it has made progress in finding new party headquarters.
The Chinese-language Mirror Media magazine reported that nearly 20 TPP party officials and staff have been “parasitizing” the party’s caucus office.
The magazine said it had received a tip-off that as the TPP’s workers are not employees of the Legislative Yuan, they do not have the work card required to enter the Legislative Yuan’s caucus office building, but the party provided a list of its staff to the building’s security and they were given permission to enter daily.
Photo courtesy of Taiwan People’s Party
The TPP staff who used the caucus office are from the party’s advertising department, and a video uploaded by the party on YouTube, in which an advertising department employee introduced the party’s secretary general, was filmed there, the magazine said.
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), the TPP chairman, has often stressed the importance of financial discipline, but allowing the party’s workers to use the caucus office — for which the electricity and phone bills are paid by the Legislative Yuan — seemed to be taking advantage of the government, the report said.
TPP spokesman Tsai Chun-wei (蔡峻維) said that all the people who are working at the office support the TPP legislative caucus by quickly replying to public opinions and assisting its operations.
The party rejects the claim that it is a parasite in the Legislative Yuan, as that is inconsistent with the facts, he said.
The TPP has been searching for a bigger space for its headquarters since last year, but many landlords have concerns over renting to political parties, Tsai said, adding that some progress has been made in finding a property, and the details would be announced if further progress is made.
‘FRIENDSHIP FLEET’: A CGA official is scheduled to meet with the president of the Pacific nation, while one of the ships is to host a banquet and National Day event Two Coast Guard Administration (CGA) patrol vessels have docked at Malakal Harbor in Palau as part of an expedition exercise and diplomatic visit, during which a senior official is expected to meet with Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr, the agency said yesterday. The two vessels, the 4,000-tonne-class Chiayi and the 1,000-tonne-class Penghu, set sail for Palau from Taiwan last week and arrived on Tuesday at Malakal Harbor, the CGA’s Fleet Branch said in a statement. The journey marks the second time the CGA has dispatched a “friendship fleet” to another country, after it sent its first-ever goodwill fleet, comprising the Hualien and
A patrol vessel donated by the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) to the Philippines was commissioned into the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on Friday, a Philippine non-governmental organization said. The CGA on Sept. 16 confirmed media reports that Taiwan had donated a retired 500-tonne patrol vessel to the Philippines. The Manila-based We Protect Our Seas (WPS) foundation, which served as an intermediary in the transfer, said that the vessel was formerly the CGA’s 500-tonne petrol vessel Kinmen (CG123). The WPS, in a statement issued on Friday, said the vessel, renamed as the BRP Sarangani, had been commissioned into the PCG the
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) today said that two of its patrol vessels have docked at Palau's Malakal Harbor as part of an expedition exercise and diplomatic visit, during which a senior official is expected to meet with the Palauan president. The two vessels, the 4,000-tonne-class Chiayi (嘉義) and the 1,000-tonne-class Penghu (澎湖), set sail for Palau from Taiwan last week and arrived at Malakal Harbor yesterday, the CGA's Fleet Branch said in a statement. The journey marked the second time the CGA has dispatched a "Friendship Fleet" to another country, after it sent its first-ever goodwill fleet, comprising the Hualien (花蓮)
‘GRAY ZONE’ TACTICS: Beijing sent two China Coast Guard vessels to escort a ‘supposedly private research ship,’ a Philippine Coast Guard spokesman said The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday confirmed that it had recently deployed three patrol vessels to waters in Taiwan’s overlapping exclusive economic zone with the Philippines to monitor three Chinese vessels. CGA Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) said the agency regularly monitors Chinese vessels around Taiwan, and that the deployment south of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, was carried out in accordance with standard procedures. He added that the waters fall within the overlapping exclusive economic zones of Taiwan and the Philippines, which extend 200 nautical miles (370km) from their coastlines. Hsieh made the comments when asked about a
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