The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday accused Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tu Wen-ching (
At a press conference, KMT Legislator Chiu Yi (
Showing the press copies of TRA documents, Chiu said Tu won the bid last April and later pressured the National Property Administration (NPA) and the TRA to change the plot's zoning.
Chiu said Tu urged the agencies to designate the land as "not for public projects" so that Tu could purchase it at a low cost.
However, the TRA ruled in August against Tu's request, Chiu said.
KMT caucus whip Kuo Su-chun (
Tu yesterday rebutted Chiu's allegations.
"I did establish my campaign headquarters at the location Chiu mentioned. But I did it through the correct legal process. I hope that the media will not be misled by Chiu," Tu said. "I welcome prosecutors to launch a probe."
The TRA also rebutted Chiu's allegations.
"The rent is extremely low because we have held seven previous public bids for the land, but nobody wanted it until Tu participated in the last bid," said Chang Ying-hui (
Chang said the TRA had several other parcels of land that are difficult to lease because they are not zoned for commercial use.
The coast guard drove away 567 Chinese boats and seized seven illegally operating in Taiwanese waters in the first six months of this year, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. They mostly operated near Kinmen and Penghu counties, resulting in fines totaling NT$1.7 million (US$52,440), it said. Three ships — two near Kinmen County and one near Penghu County — were detained in January for illegally crossing the border, while one ship each was detained near Kinmen in February and Penghu in March respectively, it said. The ship seized near Penghu in January was the Yun Ao (雲澳), detained by the CGA’s
The entire Alishan Forest Railway line is to reopen for the first time in 15 years on Saturday, with tickets to go on sale at 2pm today. The historic railway from Chiayi to Alishan (阿里山) is finally set to reopen after the completion of the final No. 42 tunnel, Alishan Forest Railway and Cultural Heritage Office Deputy Director-General Chou Heng-kai (周恆凱) said. It is to run on a new timetable, with four trains daily, he said. The 9am train is to depart from Chiayi Railway Station bound for Shizilu Station (十字路), while the 10am train departing from Chiayi is to go all the
FLU CONTINUES: Hospitals reported 101,091 visits for flu-like illnesses last week, while 68 severe cases and 16 flu-related deaths were also reported, the CDC said The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported 932 hospitalizations due to COVID-19 and 64 related deaths for last week, adding that the number of people who had contracted new SARS-CoV-2 subvariants KP.2 and LB.1 has increased. The number of people hospitalized due to COVID-19 increased from 815 in the previous week to 932 last week, while 90 percent of the 64 deceased were aged 65 or older, CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said. JN.1 was still the dominant variant among local and imported cases in the past four weeks, while KP.2 was the second-most common, Lin said. Cases with the LB.1 subvariant
Beijing’s recent provocative actions against the Philippines in the South China Sea were partly meant as a “dress rehearsal” for the invasion of Taiwan, former US deputy national security advisor Matt Pottinger said at a Heritage Foundation forum in Washington on Tuesday. Beijing’s blocking of a Philippine resupply mission on June 17 with unprecedented violence had multiple implications. “What they’re doing is trying to demonstrate that they can blockade, create a sense of futility and discredit the idea that the United States is going to help not only the Philippines, but by extension Taiwan,” Pottinger said. Pottinger was referring to a clash