Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) has accused President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of rendering clandestine protection to Farglory Group (遠雄集團) over its scandal-prone Taipei Dome project, a Taipei city councilor said yesterday.
Taipei City Councilor Chang Mao-nan (張茂楠) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus said Ko made the accusation when he met with the DPP’s council caucus earlier yesterday to discuss the dome’s future.
Ko appeared enraged during the meeting, Chang said, adding that Ko at one point was choking back tears and pounding on the table, saying: “Behind Farglory, there is President Ma Ying-jeou, watching its back.”
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Ko was quoted by Chang as saying that the city government’s struggle with Farglory has been protracted because he had “insisted on justice and fairness” as a bottom line from which he “will not retreat,” and called Ma’s alleged protection of Farglory “contemptible.”
On Thursday last week, Taipei Deputy Mayor Teng Chia-chi (鄧家基) said the city government and Farglory had arrived at a consensus to dissolve the contract for the Taipei Dome build-operate-transfer project, following a year-long fight over what the city council said were the structure’s safety flaws and design changes Farglory made to the dome.
At the time, when asked whether the city could afford the potential compensation, which Farglory said would amount to NT$37 billion (US$1.14 billion), including construction fees, salaries and the losses it incurred from the construction’s suspension, Ko said the actual amount of compensation would be ascertained after a review of the city’s accounts and Farglory’s accounting statements.
Chang yesterday said the DPP caucus had voted unanimously against paying Farglory the NT$37 billion from city coffers and categorically rejected creating a budget for the compensation.
The search for a third party to take over construction of the Taipei Dome from Farglory would not begin until the termination of the contract is finalized, Chang added.
Later yesterday, Presidential Office spokesman Charles Chen (陳以信) issued a statement denying Ko’s accusations that Farglory Land Development Co has Ma’s support.
“Mayor Ko is advised to refrain from making wild and malicious accusations,” Chen said, adding that Ko should not seek to shift public attention from his plummeting approval ratings to Ma.
“I believe the public knows what is fair,” Chen added.
Farglory Group yesterday said that as it has not broken the law or the terms of its contract, there is no need for anyone “to watch its back.”
There is no need for Ko to be distressed, because the two sides can set aside their differences, restore the contract and keep the damage to a minimum, Farglory added.
Additional reporting by Stacy Hsu
ENDEAVOR MANTA: The ship is programmed to automatically return to its designated home port and would self-destruct if seized by another party The Endeavor Manta, Taiwan’s first military-specification uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) tailor-made to operate in the Taiwan Strait in a bid to bolster the nation’s asymmetric combat capabilities made its first appearance at Kaohsiung’s Singda Harbor yesterday. Taking inspiration from Ukraine’s navy, which is using USVs to force Russia’s Black Sea fleet to take shelter within its own ports, CSBC Taiwan (台灣國際造船) established a research and development unit on USVs last year, CSBC chairman Huang Cheng-hung (黃正弘) said. With the exception of the satellite guidance system and the outboard motors — which were purchased from foreign companies that were not affiliated with Chinese-funded
PERMIT REVOKED: The influencer at a news conference said the National Immigration Agency was infringing on human rights and persecuting Chinese spouses Chinese influencer “Yaya in Taiwan” (亞亞在台灣) yesterday evening voluntarily left Taiwan, despite saying yesterday morning that she had “no intention” of leaving after her residence permit was revoked over her comments on Taiwan being “unified” with China by military force. The Ministry of the Interior yesterday had said that it could forcibly deport the influencer at midnight, but was considering taking a more flexible approach and beginning procedures this morning. The influencer, whose given name is Liu Zhenya (劉振亞), departed on a 8:45pm flight from Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) to Fuzhou, China. Liu held a news conference at the airport at 7pm,
KAOHSIUNG CEREMONY: The contract chipmaker is planning to build 5 fabs in the southern city to gradually expand its 2-nanometer chip capacity Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, yesterday confirmed that it plans to hold a ceremony on March 31 to unveil a capacity expansion plan for its most advanced 2-nanometer chips in Kaohsiung, demonstrating its commitment to further investment at home. The ceremony is to be hosted by TSMC cochief operating officer Y.P. Chyn (秦永沛). It did not disclose whether Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) and high-ranking government officials would attend the ceremony. More details are to be released next week, it said. The chipmaker’s latest move came after its announcement earlier this month of an additional US$100 billion
Authorities yesterday elaborated on the rules governing Employment Gold Cards after a US cardholder was barred from entering Taiwan for six years after working without a permit during a 2023 visit. American YouTuber LeLe Farley was barred after already being approved for an Employment Gold Card, he said in a video published on his channel on Saturday. Farley, who has more than 420,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel, was approved for his Gold Card last month, but was told at a check-in counter at the Los Angeles International Airport that he could not enter Taiwan. That was because he previously participated in two
RSS