In a bid to prevent people affiliated with criminal gangs from joining the party, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei chapter head Enoch Wu (吳怡農) yesterday proposed a set of “reform measures.”
“This is the only way forward for our party to make progress in politics with democratic values,” Wu told a convention of chapter heads that was led by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), who is the DPP chairperson. “The DPP must not betray the trust of its members, so I am asking chapter heads to push for and to implement these policies.”
The meeting was called in response to allegations that Chao Chieh-yu (趙介佑) was involved in racketeering, assault and kidnapping related to organized crime. Chao was expelled from the party this week after the allegations came to light.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Wu proposed three measures to screen people who apply to join the DPP.
The application must be filled out with authentic personal data; applicants must provide personal phone numbers, to prevent several people using the same number; and each applicant must pay a membership fee from their own pocket, he said.
The Taipei chapter will lead by example by vigorously screening every applicant and authenticating personal information that they submit, he said, adding that his office would keep in contact with every member of the city chapter and root out people affiliated with organized crime.
A prohibition on gang affiliation was approved at the DPP’s 2013 National Congress, but it was not fully implemented, Wu said.
The Taipei chapter has 250,000 members, but only about 30 percent have submitted complete personal information, so screening would be stepped up, every member would be contacted and payment of membership fees checked to remove “puppet members,” he said.
The checks are based on the 2013 provisions, disqualifying applicants who have been convicted of breaches of the Organized Crime Prevention Act (組織犯罪防制條例), the Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act (毒品危害防制條例) or the Controlling Guns, Ammunition and Knives Act (槍砲彈藥刀械管制條例), he said, adding that if members are found to have lied about a criminal background, they would be expelled from the party.
DPP spokesman Chou Chiang-chieh (周江杰) criticized the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), saying that its comments about Chao were hypocritical.
“Why would the KMT not look at itself first? It had people running in elections who were arrested over drugs and other offenses, a legislative candidate who committed a firearms offense and others with criminal records,” Chou said.
“The KMT condemn us for having members who are linked to gangs, but KMT Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) is afraid to implement a prohibition clause for his party like we have,” he said.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
RSS