PFP legislative whip Liu Wen-hsiung (
After a court recently denied Soong's request to replace former president Lee Teng-hui (
TAIPEI TIMES FILE PHOTO
In 1999, the KMT accused Soong of pocketing its funds during his stint as the party's secretary-general in the early 1990s. The scandal came to light after a large sum of money was found in the bank account of his son.
The scandal is believed to have cost Soong the presidency in 2000, though he insisted Lee put the money in his trust to conduct party operations.
"The court's decision attests to a relationship of trust between Lee and Soong years ago," Liu said last Thursday. "This is why it would not allow anyone else to collect the money."
In an effort to demonstrate his integrity, Soong deposited NT$240 million, including alleged interest payments, with a Taipei court after Lee refused to take the money and blasted Soong's claims as "outright lies."
A week earlier, Liu berated as nonsense a half-page ad by former film director Liu Chia-chang (
"It is apparently a political gambit paid for by people intent on ruining the KMT-PFP alliance," Liu Wen-hsiung said. "The film director played similar tricks during the 2000 presidential campaign."
Born to a soldier father who fled to Taiwan during the Chinese civil war, Liu Wen-hsiung, 48, made Soong's acquaintance when he was a member of the now-defunct Provincial Assembly between 1989 and 1998.
Zealous and direct, he has gone out of his way to help Soong pursue his political ambitions.
To that end, he criticized Ma for being arrogant and ungrateful after the Taipei mayor declined to share the stage with Soong at a PFP campaign rally.
The second largest opposition party had hoped to take advantage of the event to boost the prospect of its Taipei City Council candidates.
"A front-runner in the race, Ma is most likely to win a second term," Liu said two days before the Dec 7 vote. "Let's not give him too many ballots lest he should take PFP support for granted and grow conceited."
Colleagues said worries that Ma may threaten Soong's 2004 presidential bid prompted the PFP lawmaker to level criticism against the KMT star.
The tactic backfired, however, as Ma supporters flooded PFP headquarters with protest calls. Soong later went down on bended knee at a rally that same evening to plead for pan-blue unity.
The next day, a solemn-looking Liu told reporters he regretted making the remarks about Ma and echoed the need to stay united.
Eager to help Soong in a second attempt for the presidency, Liu will inevitably have more clashes with KMT officials who endeavor to help their boss gain the same political trophy.
Neither Soong nor Lien is willing to play second fiddle, though the two opposition leaders have recently agreed to join forces in unseating President Chen Shui-bian (
Like most other PFP stalwarts, Liu is a former KMT member who broke away to follow Soong after the former provincial governor entered the 2000 presidential race as an independent.
"Once Soong throws his hat into the ring, I will help him the best I can," he said in June 1999.
True to his words, Liu has since fervently defended Soong on TV talk shows and is considered a core member of the Soong clique.
Long before Liu's formal ouster from the KMT, colleagues in the former ruling party had called his loyalty into question.
In 1997, he lost the election for Keelung mayor to DPP candidate Lee Chin-yung (
Two years earlier, Liu encouraged former Judicial Yuan president Lin Yang-kang (
As a provincial assemblyman, he endorsed a friend of his, Yang Wen-hsin (
Indeed, Liu has repeatedly allowed his loyalty to friends to influence his professional judgment during his 13-year political career.
Soon after entering the legislature in 1999, he attached a "gambling clause" to the lottery law permitting the issuance of lottery tickets alongside major sports events.
The disputed clause was introduced at the urging of Yang, whose family owns Ever Fortune Group and was eyeing the lucrative market.
Years earlier, Liu helped a business partner obtain more than NT$900 million in bank loans. The partner later defaulted an interest payment.
"Liu likes to play the role of a big brother and help solve problems for people he knows," said PFP lawmaker Chiu Yi (邱毅). "His zeal makes him a busybody sometimes."
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
LIKE-MINDED COUNTRIES: Despite the threats from outside, Taiwan and Lithuania thrived and developed their economies, former president Tsai Ing-wen said Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Saturday thanked Lithuania for its support of Taiwan, saying that both countries are united as partners in defending democracy. Speaking at a reception organized by the Lithuania-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group welcoming her on her first visit to the Baltic state, Tsai said that while she was president from 2016 to last year, many Lithuanian “friends” visited Taiwan. “And I told myself I have to be here. I am very happy that I am here, a wonderful country and wonderful people,” Tsai said. Taiwan and Lithuania are in similar situations as both are neighbors to authoritarian countries, she
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is to visit the UK during her ongoing European trip, which originally included only Lithuania and Denmark, her office said today. Tsai departed Taiwan for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark, marking her second visit to the continent since her two-term presidency ended in May last year. Her office issued a statement today saying that Tsai would also visit the UK "for a few days," during which she is to meet with UK politicians and Taiwanese professionals, and visit academic and research institutions. Following Tsai's stop in Denmark, she is to visit the
RSS