President Chen Shui-bian (
On Saturday, Kaohsiung Mayor Yeh Chu-lan (葉菊蘭) announced the establishment of a five-member investigative team to look into controversies surrounding the massive Kaohsiung mass rapid transit (MRT) construction project.
Speculation about Chen's trust in Hsieh arose following Yeh's announcement.
It is widely believed that Chen directed Yeh to launch the inquiry into the problem-ridden project.
Responding to a media query as to whether he still trusts Hsieh, Chen said firmly: "Of course I trust him."
Chen made the response after paying a visit to a 102-year-old resident of Taipei, Lin Chen Jih (
According to a report yesterday by local Chinese-language evening paper the China Times Express, the internal DPP interpretation of the president's actions was that it showed his determination to root out corruption. One anonymous high-level DPP official was quoted as saying that he thought that the president would deliver an important speech on Double Ten National Day tomorrow and follow up with further action.
The controversies surrounding the Kaohsiung mass rapid transit system construction surfaced after a group of Thai laborers working on the project rioted on Aug. 21 in protest over unfair and inhumane treatment. Law enforcement authorities have been investigating the cause of the riot and alleged irregularities involved in the employment and management of the Thai workers.
Earlier this week, two of President Chen's advisers -- Chen Che-nan (
The Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP's) approval rating has shown signs of decline since the Aug. 21 riot. As a damage-control measure to prevent the alleged KRTC scandal from eroding support for the DPP ahead of the year-end "three-in-one" elections, President Chen reportedly asked Yeh to form a special investigative team to probe the administrative accountability of past Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) mayors, including Wu Den-yih (吳敦義), Hsieh and acting mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁), in the controversies.
Yeh said Friday that the five-member team's investigation will be conducted "without any limitations." The team, composed of legal and construction experts, will look into alleged conflicts of interest impartially and selflessly and release its findings on Oct. 20, Yeh added.
Super Typhoon Kong-rey is the largest cyclone to impact Taiwan in 27 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. Kong-rey’s radius of maximum wind (RMW) — the distance between the center of a cyclone and its band of strongest winds — has expanded to 320km, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. The last time a typhoon of comparable strength with an RMW larger than 300km made landfall in Taiwan was Typhoon Herb in 1996, he said. Herb made landfall between Keelung and Suao (蘇澳) in Yilan County with an RMW of 350km, Chang said. The weather station in Alishan (阿里山) recorded 1.09m of
NO WORK, CLASS: President William Lai urged people in the eastern, southern and northern parts of the country to be on alert, with Typhoon Kong-rey approaching Typhoon Kong-rey is expected to make landfall on Taiwan’s east coast today, with work and classes canceled nationwide. Packing gusts of nearly 300kph, the storm yesterday intensified into a typhoon and was expected to gain even more strength before hitting Taitung County, the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. The storm is forecast to cross Taiwan’s south, enter the Taiwan Strait and head toward China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The CWA labeled the storm a “strong typhoon,” the most powerful on its scale. Up to 1.2m of rainfall was expected in mountainous areas of eastern Taiwan and destructive winds are likely
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday at 5:30pm issued a sea warning for Typhoon Kong-rey as the storm drew closer to the east coast. As of 8pm yesterday, the storm was 670km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and traveling northwest at 12kph to 16kph. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 162kph and gusts of up to 198kph, the CWA said. A land warning might be issued this morning for the storm, which is expected to have the strongest impact on Taiwan from tonight to early Friday morning, the agency said. Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島) canceled classes and work
KONG-REY: A woman was killed in a vehicle hit by a tree, while 205 people were injured as the storm moved across the nation and entered the Taiwan Strait Typhoon Kong-rey slammed into Taiwan yesterday as one of the biggest storms to hit the nation in decades, whipping up 10m waves, triggering floods and claiming at least one life. Kong-rey made landfall in Taitung County’s Chenggong Township (成功) at 1:40pm, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The typhoon — the first in Taiwan’s history to make landfall after mid-October — was moving north-northwest at 21kph when it hit land, CWA data showed. The fast-moving storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 184kph, with gusts of up to 227kph, CWA data showed. It was the same strength as Typhoon Gaemi, which was the most
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