Chinese Nationalist Party KMT Chairman Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) yesterday morning apologized for referring to Presidential Office Secretary-General Chen Chu (陳菊) as “a fat sow” and said that although he made an inappropriate comment on Saturday, he longs for clean and honest elections.
Wu made the remark about the former Kaohsiung mayor during an event for KMT Kaohsiung mayoral candidate Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜).
It was a “non-public event with about 10 or 20 people,” the former vice president and premier, who also served as Kaohsiung mayor from 1990 to 1998, said yesterday.
Photo: CNA
Wu said that he was an old friend of former Examination Yuan member Huang Chun-ying (黃俊英) and that several people at Saturday’s event had come from Huang’s hometown.
He and some of them got emotional when the subject turned to the Kaohsiung mayoral election 12 years ago, when Huang was a candidate, he said.
Huang lost the election due to false rumors of bribery and remained deeply troubled by the allegations until he died, Wu said.
His comment about Chen was “inappropriate,” whether as an “indirect reference to her or description about her,” Wu said as he bowed in front of photographers to Chen and others hurt by his remark.
He asked KMT Vice Secretary-General Cheng Li-wen (鄭麗文) on Saturday to apologize to the public on his behalf, Wu said.
The most important thing is to ensure elections are “clean, honest” and “free of unethical moves,” he said, adding that this is what he deeply longs for and has always believed in throughout his decades-long political career.
Han is also against unethical election efforts, Wu said, referring to Han’s remarks at an event on Saturday that he would rather “lose the election while keeping his integrity than win by cheating.”
There was no need for Han to join him in an apology, because the inappropriate comment was his alone, Wu added.
Asked if his remark could hurt the KMT’s campaign, Wu said it would not, adding that he had apologized for what needed an apology.
Asked why he had not immediately apologized on Saturday, Wu said the first reports on his remark said it was an “insinuation.”
Whether it was a direct comment on Chen was irrelevant to the fact that it was inappropriate, he said.
Wu’s Facebook account was flooded by Han’s supporters demanding that he take responsibility for his remark, and Wu said that he respects their opinions.
He reiterated that he had “apologized for what needed an apology and would insist on what needs to be insisted on.”
At a Democratic Progressive Party rally in Kaohsiung last night, Chen made her first comment on the issue, telling the crowd: “I am a daughter of Taiwanese, I am not a big sow.”
SEPARATE: The MAC rebutted Beijing’s claim that Taiwan is China’s province, asserting that UN Resolution 2758 neither mentions Taiwan nor grants the PRC authority over it The “status quo” of democratic Taiwan and autocratic China not belonging to each other has long been recognized by the international community, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday in its rebuttal of Beijing’s claim that Taiwan can only be represented in the UN as “Taiwan, Province of China.” Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) yesterday at a news conference of the third session at the 14th National People’s Congress said that Taiwan can only be referred to as “Taiwan, Province of China” at the UN. Taiwan is an inseparable part of Chinese territory, which is not only history but
NATIONAL SECURITY: The Chinese influencer shared multiple videos on social media in which she claimed Taiwan is a part of China and supported its annexation Freedom of speech does not allow comments by Chinese residents in Taiwan that compromise national security or social stability, the nation’s top officials said yesterday, after the National Immigration Agency (NIA) revoked the residency permit of a Chinese influencer who published videos advocating China annexing Taiwan by force. Taiwan welcomes all foreigners to settle here and make families so long as they “love the land and people of Taiwan,” Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) told lawmakers during a plenary session at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. The public power of the government must be asserted when necessary and the Ministry of
CROSSED A LINE: While entertainers working in China have made pro-China statements before, this time it seriously affected the nation’s security and interests, a source said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) late on Saturday night condemned the comments of Taiwanese entertainers who reposted Chinese statements denigrating Taiwan’s sovereignty. The nation’s cross-strait affairs authority issued the statement after several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑), Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜) and Michelle Chen (陳妍希), on Friday and Saturday shared on their respective Sina Weibo (微博) accounts a post by state broadcaster China Central Television. The post showed an image of a map of Taiwan along with the five stars of the Chinese flag, and the message: “Taiwan is never a country. It never was and never will be.” The post followed remarks
Proposed amendments would forbid the use of all personal electronic devices during school hours in high schools and below, starting from the next school year in August, the Ministry of Education said on Monday. The Regulations on the Use of Mobile Devices at Educational Facilities up to High Schools (高級中等以下學校校園行動載具使用原則) state that mobile devices — defined as mobile phones, laptops, tablets, smartwatches or other wearables — should be turned off at school. The changes would stipulate that use of such devices during class is forbidden, and the devices should be handed to a teacher or the school for safekeeping. The amendments also say
RSS