The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday rejected accusations that its candidate in March 4’s Nantou County legislative by-election, former legislator Tsai Pei-hui (蔡培慧), is a “parachute candidate.”
DPP Deputy Secretary-General Huang Chien-chia (黃建嘉) said that criticism of Tsai by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate Lin Ming-chen (林明溱) should be measured against what he called Lin’s abuse of power to exploit the county’s finances and natural resources for personal gain.
Lin was in a conflict of interest when as Nantou County commissioner he appointed his son as a special assistant and hired another relative as chief office secretary, Huang said.
Photo: CNA
“Lin packed his family and relatives into positions in public projects,” he said.
Lin was Nantou County commissioner for two terms from 2014 to last year. Previously he was a legislator from 2008 to 2014, a county councilor for one term and served two terms as Jiji Township mayor from 1994 to 2002.
“Through these public offices, he hired his son and relatives to county government in flagrant abuses of power,” Huang said.
“As county commissioner, Lin exploited the people and county’s natural resources like a colony under control of his family’s fiefdom,” he added.
Huang also criticized Lin’s record.
“As commissioner, Nantou County’s population dropped to about 480,000. About 20 percent of businesses have closed. Throughout the county, many townships and villages have piled up garbage due to trash collection problems,” Huang said.
Lin earlier told a news conference at his campaign office that Tsai is a “parachute candidate” who serves “only her party’s needs, and she does not have local people’s best interest in mind.”
Tsai while canvassing responded by saying she served as executive secretary of the 921 Earthquake Reconstruction Foundation after a devastating earthquake centered in Jiji on Sept. 21, 1999, and worked to help townships and counties throughout Nantou recover.
“At that time, when Lin was mayor of Jiji Township, the funding for a local cultural festival came from our foundation,” she said.
A native of Nantou’s Yuchi Township (魚池), Tsai was previously a professor who conducted research into agriculture economies. She has also been a DPP legislator-at-large, during which time she said she secured funding to build road sections for farmers, and pushed to secure farmer retirement pensions.
At Lin’s news conference, KMT Culture and Communications Committee deputy director-general Lin Chia-hsing (林家興) said that Tsai supported projects that harmed the environment and “has no popular support.”
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
US climber Alex Honnold left Taiwan this morning a day after completing a free-solo ascent of Taipei 101, a feat that drew cheers from onlookers and gained widespread international attention. Honnold yesterday scaled the 101-story skyscraper without a rope or safety harness. The climb — the highest urban free-solo ascent ever attempted — took just more than 90 minutes and was streamed live on Netflix. It was covered by major international news outlets including CNN, the New York Times, the Guardian and the Wall Street Journal. As Honnold prepared to leave Taiwan today, he attracted a crowd when he and his wife, Sanni,
RSS