New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), widely seen as one of the frontrunners for the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential nomination, is to visit Singapore today as part of “international diplomacy,” he said yesterday.
His remarks were interpreted by some as an indication he might soon officially declare he was running in next year’s presidential election.
New Taipei City “already closely interacts with Singapore,” he said of the reason for the trip, citing the use of technology from the city-state in New Taipei City’s Christmas light show last year.
Photo: CNA
Hou did not say whether he would meet with Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍).
He said he plans to visit Nanyang Technological University, which is “the most important start-up base in Singapore,” and would also visit companies and government departments, as well as host a symposium “to demystify how Singaporean youth create their own world.”
Four female city department heads would accompany him “to demonstrate the city’s emphasis on gender equality,” and would meet with Singaporean counterparts to discuss issues such as sustainable development, urban economics and culture, he said.
Separately yesterday, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilor Yen Wei-tzu (顏蔚慈) said that Hou was traveling abroad to avoid responding to accusations that he committed bribery in 2014.
Former KMT member and political pundit Luo You-zhi (羅友志) on Monday said that Hou had tried to bribe him in exchange for not seeking the party’s nomination in the 2014 local elections.
The mayor’s trip was announced suddenly, and after the city government had previously said there were no plans for official visits abroad this year, Yen told a news conference in Taipei, alongside DPP spokesman Chang Chih-hao (張志豪), and DPP New Taipei City councilors Tai Wei-shan (戴瑋姍) and Chen Nai-yu (陳乃瑜).
“The timing of the trip, just as controversy has emerged surrounding Luo’s accusations, cannot be a coincidence,” she said.
Hou has avoided answering questions such as whether he met with Luo, whose interests Hou had been trying to protect in the 2014 local elections, and where the NT$5 million (US$163,789) bribe allegedly offered to Luo came from, Chang said.
“All Hou said [in response to questions] was: ‘Although Taiwan guarantees freedom of speech, it is still a democratic country ruled by law,’ which just left everyone with a lot of questions,” he said.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday briefed her party’s Central Standing Committee regarding her scheduled visit to the US between Monday next week and June 16, saying that her purpose would be to persuade the US that the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution was a “one China” constitution that would foster stable and peaceful cross-strait relations. The ROC Constitution is the most important defense for all Taiwanese citizens, as it upholds our democracy and has contributed to our robust economy, which aligns with international and US interests, she said. “We would not be troublemakers and drag the US under,”
RSS