Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) headquarters yesterday said it would organize a special team to investigate a media allegation against DPP Legislators Gao Jyh-peng (
The Director of the DPP's Department of Culture and Information Super Meng (孟義超) told a press conference that DPP Deputy Secretary-General Lin Yi-cheng (林宜正) and Central Standing Committee member Wu Ping-jui (吳秉叡) will be in charge of investigating whether the three attended late-night gatherings with female escorts.
Meng said the men's memberships would not be suspended for now but did not specify if they would be referred to the DPP's Central Review Committee for disciplinary action.
Gao yesterday also told DPP Secretary-General Lin Chia-lung (
Whether he will be referred to the Integrity Committee depends on the party's decision which may be made during tomorrow's Central Executive Committee meeting.
According to DPP guidelines, party members are liable to punishment if their behavior violates the party's resolutions or damages its image.
If the wrongdoing is a violation of members' integrity or involves conflicts of interest, the matter is referred to the Central Review Committee after being investigated by the Integrity Committee first.
The party instigated its crisis management after a front-page report in the Chinese-language Apple Daily on Sunday alleged Gao, Yu, Lee and presidential aid Kuo Wen-pin (郭文彬) enjoyed escorts' company in separate late-night gatherings held in a Taipei guesthouse.
The report showed pictures of Gao, Yu and Lee leaving the location alone before dawn while a series of four pictures showed Kuo giving a woman a ride in his car.
DPP legislators were divided over how to deal with Gao, Yu and Lee. DPP Legislator Lee Chun-yi (李俊毅) told the media that as long as they did not violate the law or damage the party's image when visiting the guesthouse, the incident should be regarded as "a matter of one's personal upbringing and ability to control oneself."
Any speculation before facts are established would harm the individuals, he said, urging DPP members not to "make something out of nothing."
DPP Lawmaker Tsai Chi-fang (
"It is all right as long as they were not involved in wrongdoing," he said.
DPP Legislator Lin Chung-mo (
DPP Legislator Wang Shu-hui (
She said Gao, who also acts as the convener of the Central Review Committee, should ask the party headquarters for a period of leave in order to avoid a conflict of interest and that the party caucus' Discipline Committee should then propose an investigation to the party headquarters' Central Review Committee.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS