Deputy Legislative Speaker Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) yesterday said he would sue for defamation after Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) by-election candidate Yen Kuan-heng’s (顏寬恒) campaign spokesman said that Tsai’s business interests were partly behind corruption allegations against Yen.
Yen is the KMT’s candidate in Taichung’s second electoral district in a by-election scheduled for Jan. 9, facing Lin Ching-yi (林靜儀) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), following the recall of Chen Po-wei (陳柏惟) of the Taiwan Statebuilding Party last month.
In a controversy over the Taichung Harbor No. 105 wharf, local DPP city councilors and New Power Party lawmakers have demanded a judicial probe into Yen’s alleged conflict of interest, abuse of power, intimidation of government officials and illegal obtainment security contracts during his term as a KMT legislator from 2013 to 2016.
They said that Yen pressured the Taichung Port Authority to issue private sector contracts for storage of imported coal from incoming freighters that supply the Taichung Power Plant operated under the state-owned Taiwan Power Co (Taipower).
Taichung Port and transport ministry officials revised the plan to outsource the No. 105 wharf through a public tender under pressure from Yen, they said.
The tender was won by Chengfeng Warehouse and Harbor Service last year.
In response, Yen said that the tender was secured legally.
Yen’s campaign spokesman Chang Yu-hsuan (張禹宣) said that Tsai had served in an executive role for a rival company, Chien Shing Harbour Service Co, which lost out on the tender bid.
Chang said that Tsai owned 39,000 shares of Chien Shing stock, currently worth more than NT$1.5 billion (US$53.89 million).
Tsai, a DPP member, said on Thursday that the accusation was false and would file a defamation suit against Yen, pledging to donate any funds awarded to charity.
STAY AWAY: An official said people should avoid disturbing snakes, as most do not actively attack humans, but would react defensively if threatened Taitung County authorities yesterday urged the public to stay vigilant and avoid disturbing snakes in the wild, following five reported snakebite cases in the county so far this year. Taitung County Fire Department secretary Lin Chien-cheng (林建誠) said two of the cases were in Donghe Township (東河) and involved the Taiwan habus, one person was bit by a Chinese pit viper near the South Link Railway and the remaining two were caused by unidentified snakes. He advised residents near fields to be cautious of snakes hiding in shady indoor areas, especially when entering or leaving their homes at night. In case of a
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Credit departments of farmers’ and fishers’ associations blocked a total of more than NT$180 million (US$6.01 million) from being lost to scams last year, National Police Agency (NPA) data showed. The Agricultural Finance Agency (AFA) said last week that staff of farmers’ and fishers’ associations’ credit departments are required to implement fraud prevention measures when they serve clients at the counter. They would ask clients about personal financial management activities whenever they suspect there might be a fraud situation, and would immediately report the incident to local authorities, which would send police officers to the site to help, it said. NPA data showed
ENERGY RESILIENCE: Although Alaska is open for investments, Taiwan is sourcing its gas from the Middle East, and the sea routes carry risks, Ho Cheng-hui said US government officials’ high-profile reception of a Taiwanese representative at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference indicated the emergence of an Indo-Pacific energy resilience alliance, an academic said. Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安) attended the conference in Alaska on Thursday last week at the invitation of the US government. Pan visited oil and gas facilities with senior US officials, including US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy and US Senator Daniel Sullivan. Pan attending the conference on behalf of President William Lai (賴清德) shows a significant elevation in diplomatic representation,
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