Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lin Ching-yi (林靜儀) on Friday said that touting “woman power” to elect more female Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) politicians would support corruption and nepotism in politics, adding to mismanagement and corruption in local governments.
She made the comment after Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) hosted the KMT’s “Perfect Ten” event in her city on Friday, a joint campaign rally held at Taichung’s Taiping Sports Stadium, attended by party chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫).
The KMT’s leaders hosted the event to showcase the party’s female candidates running in next month’s local elections, and to address a perception that it is a male-dominated party.
Photo: CNA
Featured at the event were 10 candidates in city mayor and county commissioner elections, with seven incumbents seeking a second term, including Lu, Changhua County Commissioner Wang Hui-mei (王惠美), Yunlin County Commissioner Chang Li-shan (張麗善) and Chiayi City Mayor Huang Hui-min (黃敏惠).
Also at the event were incumbent commissioners Lin Zi-miao (林姿妙), Hsu Chen-wei (徐榛蔚) and Yao Ching-ling (饒慶鈴) of the Yilan, Hualien and Taitung county governments.
Joining the incumbents were current and former legislators running for local seats, including Kaohsiung mayoral candidate Ko Chih-en (柯志恩), along with Hsu Shu-hua (許淑華) and Alicia Wang (王育敏), in the commissioner races for Nantou County and Chiayi County respectively.
“The KMT is fielding 10 women in the local elections to help govern Taiwan’s 20 counties and cities. This shows a rising tide of women in our party,” Lu said.
“The seven incumbents have done great jobs in protecting people in their cities and counties during the COVID-19 pandemic,” she added.
Lin Ching-yi, who is also a DPP spokeswoman, said that most of the incumbents have performed their jobs with mismanagement and negligence.
If they are elected, their cities and counties would regress by at least 30 years, she said.
She also said that several of the candidates presented at the event are either being investigated for or have been accused of corruption.
She cited Yilan County Commissioner Lin Zi-miao who, along with family members and associates, has been indicted over a series of questionable land deals, and accused of money laundering and forgery, while her daughter reportedly used Yilan government offices and an official residence for alleged illegal transactions.
“Lu was questioned by Taichung councilors on allegations of her government altering planned routes and stations of the city’s new Mass Rapid Transit system for the financial benefit of powerful local families who profited from the land transactions,” Lin Ching-yi said.
“In Nantou County, KMT Legislator Hsu is running for the commissioner’s job, while her family has been accused of illegal appropriation of public land to build a private club with a guest house and recreational facilities,” she said.
She also said that local politicians and residents have long criticized Hsu’s family connections to criminal gangs.
Lin Ching-yi added that Yunlin County Commissioner Chang Li-shan (張麗善) and her family earlier this year were embroiled in allegations of illegal construction and use of public land.
“Chang’s family has long been accused of having ties to criminal syndicates, and have used their positions in Yunlin in corrupt ways,” she said.
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
TRADE-OFF: Beijing seeks to trade a bowl of tempura for a Chinese delicacy, an official said, while another said its promises were attempts to interfere in the polls The government must carefully consider the national security implications of building a bridge connecting Kinmen County and Xiamen, China, the Public Construction Commission (PCC) said yesterday. PCC Commissioner Derek Chen (陳金德), who is also a minister without portfolio, made the remarks in a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, after Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsu Fu-kuei (徐富癸) asked about China’s proposal of new infrastructure projects to further connect Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties with Xiamen. China unveiled the bridge plan, along with nine other policies for Taiwan, on Sunday, the last day of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun’s (鄭麗文) visit
RSS