With the Dec. 3 local government elections drawing near, the pan-blue and pan-green legislative caucuses began tearing into each other yesterday, with both sides threatening lawsuits and calling for various candidates to apologize or withdraw from the race.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip William Lai (賴清德) called on Liu Cheng-hong (劉政鴻), the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate for Miaoli County commissioner, to explain whether he has used a prerogative to default the payment of bank loans totaling NT$179 million.
Lai said that Liu had borrowed NT$50 million from a bank, after failing to pay off a NT$55 million loan from another bank when Liu served as the secretary-general of the KMT in 2003. Liu also stopped paying interest on a NT$85 million loan in 2002, making the total amount of bad debts about NT$180 million, Lai said.
Lai also asked KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to tell the public why his party nominates such candidates, and explain why Liu does not deserve to be kicked out of the race.
threats in nantou
Meanwhile, the DPP candidate for Nantou County commissioner, Tsai Huang-liang (
Lin yesterday alleged that Tsai meddled in the selection of the train communication system for the Taiwan Railway Administration in 2002.
Lin's allegation was widely seen as a political ploy, as his father, Nantou County Commissioner Lin Tsung-nan (林宗男), is seeking re-election as an independent candidate in the polls.
Lin Yun-sheng claimed that the railroad authorities had spent over three years and NT$40 million in planning and consulting fees, but changed its mind "all of a sudden" simply because of "concerns" expressed by Tsai.
In response, Tsai yesterday said that he did question the railroad authorities on the subject during a committee hearing, but that everything was conducted in public and in a legal manner.
While the railway administration planned to purchase an analog communication system, Tsai said that he thought a digital system would be a better choice, and hoped that the railroad agency would also consider the system.
Lai jumped to defend Tsai, saying that Tsai did not do anything wrong or illegal. Lai also called Lin Yun-sheng's accusation "improper."
"I'm calling on Lin Yun-sheng to stop imitating the KMT's dirty election tricks to smear election rivals," he said, adding that his caucus will not consider meting out disciplinary action until the elections are over.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
Former Taiwan People’s Party chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) may apply to visit home following the death of his father this morning, the Taipei Detention Center said. Ko’s father, Ko Cheng-fa (柯承發), passed away at 8:40am today at the Hsinchu branch of National Taiwan University Hospital. He was 94 years old. The center said Ko Wen-je was welcome to apply, but declined to say whether it had already received an application. The center also provides psychological counseling to people in detention as needed, it added, also declining to comment on Ko Wen-je’s mental state. Ko Wen-je is being held in detention as he awaits trial
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