Independent Miaoli County commissioner candidate Chung Tung-chin (鍾東錦) must withdraw from the race, after claims have emerged that, on top of a 30-year old murder conviction, he was allegedly involved in the attempted killing of another man, adultery and gang-related crimes, politicians across party lines including rival candidates for Miaoli County commissioner said yesterday.
Chung, a long-time member of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), was elected as a Miaoli councilor in 2014, then assumed the council speaker’s office in 2018. After losing a bid for the party’s nomination this year, Chung registered independently in June.
Chung is backed by incumbent KMT Miaoli County Commissioner Hsu Yao-chang (徐耀昌), who made several appearances at campaign events to rally support.
Photo: CNA
Hsieh Fu-hung (謝福弘), who defeated Chung in a KMT primary to represent the party in the commissioner race, has on the campaign trail stressed that he is the party’s only candidate in the race.
With the two candidates potentially splitting the vote of the pan-blue camp, political commentators say that the Democratic Progressive Party might for the first time have a chance to win a countywide election in Miaoli.
DPP legislators yesterday held a news conference at which they presented material that they said would implicate Chung in additional crimes.
DPP Legislator Wu Yu-chin (吳玉琴) said that Chung is linked to four major crimes, including the previously reported killing of a man surnamed Hu (胡) in May 1987.
Chung has described the incident as an “accidental killing.”
Court filings and news reports show that Chung and six associates beat Hu to death in a restaurant in Taipei, Wu said, adding that Chung was convicted of assault with the intent to injure and leading to death.
He served a three-year, eight-month term in prison for the killing, Wu added.
However, Chung was allegedly also involved in the attempted killing of a person when he was in school, Wu said.
He was also charged with offenses “against marriage and family” and contravening the Anti-Hoodlum Law (檢肅流氓條例), Wu said.
“Miaoli residents do not deserve a killer in the commissioner’s office,” DPP Legislator Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政) said.
The sentiment was echoed by the KMT’s candidate.
“Chung has a long criminal record, which is well-known to most people,” Hsieh said. “He keeps on lying to voters and does not clarify for what and how many crimes he has been convicted. Chung has no credibility, and he cannot be Miaoli County councilor.”
Sung Kuo-ting (宋國鼎), the New Power Party’s Miaoli County commissioner candidate, said that Chung has evaded questions about his past, which hurts the feelings of his victims.
“I believe Miaoli residents cannot accept that,” Sung said.
Chung’s campaign spokeswoman, Chen Yi-hua (陳怡樺), did not respond to questions about the allegations, but said that Chung had “paid a heavy price for what he has done.”
Now that he has to face these allegations, his campaign’s focus has become “defending self-respect and human rights,” Chen said.
“We urge all voters in Miaoli to rally behind Chung to safeguard this pure land, our home, Miaoli County,” Chen said.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) today said that if South Korea does not reply appropriately to its request to correct Taiwan’s name on its e-Arrival card system before March 31, it would take corresponding measures to alter how South Korea is labeled on the online Taiwan Arrival Card system. South Korea’s e-Arrival card system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in the “point of departure” and “next destination” fields. The ministry said that it changed the nationality for South Koreans on Taiwan’s Alien Resident Certificates from “Korea” to “South Korea” on March 1, in a gesture of goodwill and based on the
RSS