Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Acting Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) yesterday denied accusations that former party chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) had direct contact with top Chinese officials, calling them part of a “smear campaign.”
The Chinese-language Mirror Media on Sunday released alleged messages between Ko — who last month stepped down as chairman of the party as he awaits trial on corruption charges — and his campaign finance chief, Lee Wen-tsung (李文宗).
There was no need to formally respond to the magazine’s allegations, Huang told a news conference, calling it “trash” and the report an attempt to paint Ko “red,” an apparent reference to the Chinese Communist Party.
Photo courtesy of the Taiwan People’s Party
TPP Legislator Chen Gau-tzu (陳昭姿) said she is known for her stance in favor of Taiwanese independence and Ko would not have invited her to join the party or placed her in a favorable position if he was pro-China.
Asked how Taiwan’s political parties should communicate with China, Huang said that it is the TPP’s mission to defend democracy, freedom and Taiwan’s way of life.
There is no need to engage in war and the two sides should be able to communicate for the benefit of the public, he added.
The messages Mirror Media said it had obtained allegedly showed that Lee communicated with former Mainland Affairs Council deputy minister Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀), E-United Group founder Lin Yi-shou (林義守) and China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) Director Song Tao (宋濤), with the magazine saying that the connections extended up to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) office.
Chinese officials allegedly had a favorable view of Ko’s candidacy, the report said.
It also alleged that Ko had ordered Lee to delete the messages due to their sensitive nature.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
The eastern extension of the Taipei MRT Red Line could begin operations as early as late June, the Taipei Department of Rapid Transit Systems said yesterday. Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said it is considering offering one month of free rides on the new section to mark its opening. Construction progress on the 1.4km extension, which is to run from the current terminal Xiangshan Station to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, was 90.6 percent complete by the end of last month, the department said in a report to the Taipei City Council's Transportation Committee. While construction began in October 2016 with an
NON-RED SUPPLY: Boosting the nation’s drone industry is becoming increasingly urgent as China’s UAV dominance could become an issue in a crisis, an analyst said Taiwan’s drone exports to Europe grew 41.7-fold from 2024 to last year, with demand from Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression the most likely driver of growth, a study showed. The Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET) in a statement on Wednesday said it found that many of Taiwan’s uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) sales were from Poland and the Czech Republic. These countries likely transferred the drones to Ukraine to aid it in its fight against the Russian invasion that started in 2022, it said. Despite the gains, Taiwan is not the dominant drone exporter to these markets, ranking second and fourth
RSS