The Taiwan High Court yesterday did not hand down a ruling on Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng’s (王金平) injunction against the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) revocation of his party membership, as lawyers representing both sides continued to hold heated debates.
The court could make a ruling as early as today on the status of Wang’s membership, which was revoked by the KMT on Sept. 11 over his alleged involvement in improper lobbying.
If the court upholds the previous ruling on the case made by the Taipei District Court on Sept. 13, which allowed Wang to retain his membership, he would provisionally be able to keep his positions as a KMT legislator-at-large and as legislative speaker pending an appeal if the KMT elects to contest the ruling with the Supreme Court.
Photo: CNA
At yesterday’s three-hour hearing, eight lawyers representing Wang and three acting on behalf of the KMT made their cases to Presiding Judge Wei Li-chuan (魏麗娟).
Hsu Ying-chieh (許英傑), one of Wang’s lawyers, said that the transcripts from the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office Special Investigation Division’s (SID) wiretap — cited by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and the KMT as proof that Wang participated in lobbying to take legal pressure off Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) — should have been invalidated because the wiretap itself was illegal and an abuse of the division’s investigative rights.
The KMT’s lawyer Chen Ming (陳明) had previously said that the Taipei District Court “has no jurisdiction” over the case because a person being disciplined by their party is “a matter within the scope of the party’s autonomy,” adding that his interpretation was supported by a verdict rendered by the Japanese Supreme Court in a similar case involving a party member’s status in Japan 30 years ago.
However, Hsu told reporters after yesterday’s hearing that the KMT lawyers were misinterpreting the case in Japan as a court had eventually decided the case, which lent support to Wang’s lawyers’ stance that the KMT’s right to autonomy as a party should not be unlimited.
In addition, the party has not specified how Wang has damaged its reputation and the KMT’s Central Evaluation and Discipline Committee is designated by its chairman, Ma, not via a democratic process, raising questions about its independence, Hsu said.
The party’s lawyers submitted five documents stating six disputed points and 30 arguments about the initial ruling and the KMT’s handling of the case to the High Court before yesterday’s hearing, but did not come up with any fresh arguments.
The judge asked the KMT during yesterday’s hearing to submit additional documents to specify how Wang had damaged the party’s image.
The party appealed the case with the Taiwan High Court after the Taipei District Court ruled that Wang could keep his rights as a KMT member until a final ruling is made, on the condition that he pay a guarantee of NT$9.38 million (US$315,000) to the party.
According to the law, if the KMT wins the appeal, the case will be sent back to the district court for reconsideration, but if the appeal fails, the party may appeal the decision to the Supreme Court.
GEARING UP: An invasion would be difficult and would strain China’s forces, but it has conducted large-scale training supporting an invasion scenario, the report said China increased its military pressure on Taiwan last year and took other steps in preparation for a potential invasion, an annual report published by the US Department of Defense on Wednesday showed. “Throughout 2023, Beijing continued to erode longstanding norms in and around Taiwan by employing a range of pressure tactics against Taiwan,” the report said, which is titled “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China (PRC) 2024.” The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) “is preparing for a contingency to unify Taiwan with the PRC by force, if perceived as necessary by Beijing, while simultaneously deterring, delaying or denying
‘LAGGING BEHIND’: The NATO secretary-general called on democratic allies to be ‘clear-eyed’ about Beijing’s military buildup, urging them to boost military spending NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte mentioning China’s bullying of Taiwan and its ambition to reshape the global order has significance during a time when authoritarian states are continuously increasing their aggression, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. In a speech at the Carnegie Europe think tank in Brussels on Thursday, Rutte said Beijing is bullying Taiwan and would start to “nibble” at Taiwan if Russia benefits from a post-invasion peace deal with Ukraine. He called on democratic allies to boost defense investments and also urged NATO members to increase defense spending in the face of growing military threats from Russia
PEACEFUL RESOLUTION: A statement issued following a meeting between Australia and Britain reiterated support for Taiwan and opposition to change in the Taiwan Strait Canada should support the peaceful resolution of Taiwan’s destiny according to the will of Taiwanese, Canadian lawmakers said in a resolution marking the second anniversary of that nation’s Indo-Pacific strategy on Monday. The Canadian House of Commons committee on Canada-Chinese relations made the comment as part of 34 recommendations for the new edition of the strategy, adding that Ottawa should back Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations. Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, first published in October 2022, emphasized that the region’s security, trade, human rights, democracy and environmental protection would play a crucial role in shaping Canada’s future. The strategy called for Canada to deepen
TECH CONFERENCE: Input from industry and academic experts can contribute to future policymaking across government agencies, President William Lai said Multifunctional service robots could be the next new area in which Taiwan could play a significant role, given its strengths in chip manufacturing and software design, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) chairman and chief executive C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said yesterday. “In the past two months, our customers shared a lot of their future plans with me. Artificial intelligence [AI] and AI applications were the most talked about subjects in our conversation,” Wei said in a speech at the National Science and Technology Conference in Taipei. TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, counts Nvidia Corp, Advanced Micro Devices Inc, Apple Inc and
RSS