First lady Wu Shu-jen (
The DPP's Central Evaluation Committee announced the suspensions after reaching a unanimous decision. The decision took immediate effect.
It is DPP policy that members are subject to suspension of their party rights if they are indicted.
Wu has been indicted on corruption and forgery charges, while former Presidential Office deputy general-secretary Ma Yung-cheng (
The committee came under fire last Thursday when it failed to address the issue because a quorum could not be reached. The committee had planned to tackle the matter after the Taipei and Kaohsiung mayoral elections, but met yesterday in response to media and public pressure.
All 11 members of the committee attended yesterday's meeting.
DPP Legislator Gao Jyh-peng (
While Wu and the three aides did not attend the meeting, former presidential aide Chiang Chih-ming (
Chiang, a former chairman of the evaluation committee of the DPP's Taipei chapter, said that the matter should be handled by the Taipei chapter rather than the Central Evaluation Committee, as the four people were "regular party members," rather than administrative chiefs or elected officials.
Gao disagreed, saying that Ma and Lin were "important government officials" and that their cases could be dealt with as a single case because of their close connections.
It would therefore be inappropriate to let the party's Taipei chapter handle the matter, he said.
Gao, who doubles up as the committee's chairman, did not chair yesterday's meeting, citing his close relationship with the president.
Gao is a former secretary-general of the now disbanded Justice Alliance, which was co-founded by President Chen.
Gao said that he was not trying to shirk responsibility, but would like to avoid unnecessary speculation and establish a precedent to ensure the committee's impartiality.
DPP Legislator Tu Wen-ching (杜文卿) was elected acting chair.
The committee decided to deal with cases involving two other party members, Yen Wan-chin (顏萬進) and Lin Chung-cheng (林忠正), at its next meeting.
Yen, former vice minister of the interior, was indicted for receiving bribes in connection with the construction of a cable car system and other scandals.
Prosecutors suspect that Lin Chung-cheng, who is in police custody, accepted bribes in return for insider information on the stock market, to which he had access as a Financial Supervisory Commission member.
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
GEOPOLITICAL CONCERNS: Foreign companies such as Nissan, Volkswagen and Konica Minolta have pulled back their operations in China this year Foreign companies pulled more money from China last quarter, a sign that some investors are still pessimistic even as Beijing rolls out stimulus measures aimed at stabilizing growth. China’s direct investment liabilities in its balance of payments dropped US$8.1 billion in the third quarter, data released by the Chinese State Administration of Foreign Exchange showed on Friday. The gauge, which measures foreign direct investment (FDI) in China, was down almost US$13 billion for the first nine months of the year. Foreign investment into China has slumped in the past three years after hitting a record in 2021, a casualty of geopolitical tensions,
‘SOMETHING SPECIAL’: Donald Trump vowed to reward his supporters, while President William Lai said he was confident the Taiwan-US partnership would continue Donald Trump was elected the 47th president of the US early yesterday morning, an extraordinary comeback for a former president who was convicted of felony charges and survived two assassination attempts. With a win in Wisconsin, Trump cleared the 270 electoral votes needed to clinch the presidency. As of press time last night, The Associated Press had Trump on 277 electoral college votes to 224 for US Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party’s nominee, with Alaska, Arizona, Maine, Michigan and Nevada yet to finalize results. He had 71,289,216 votes nationwide, or 51 percent, while Harris had 66,360,324 (47.5 percent). “We’ve been through so
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