The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Evaluation and Discipline Committee last night approved a suggestion by the party’s Integrity Committee to immediately suspend the party membership of Taitung County Commissioner Kuang Li-chen (鄺麗貞).
Juan Kang-meng (阮剛猛), head of the KMT’s Evaluation and Discipline Committee, said the evaluation committee would now discuss how long Kuang’s membership should be suspended for.
The Integrity Committee suggested last night that the KMT should suspend Kuang’s membership after over three hours of discussions.
PHOTO: CHIEN JUNG-FUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
“[Kuang’s incident] has attracted a lot of attention in society and seriously damaged the KMT’s reputation ... The committee suggested that Kuang’s membership should be suspended,” Chang told reporters last night after the meeting at the KMT headquarters.
Kuang, who drew widespread criticism for failing to cancel a 13-day trip to Europe ahead of Typhoon Fung-wong, bowed again in apology to her constituents after facing the KMT Integrity Committee yesterday over the nature of her trip.
Seeking to gain a better understanding about Kuang’s trip, the Integrity Committee moved its regular meeting from Aug. 19 to yesterday.
Kuang arrived at KMT headquarters at about 6:30pm, but remained tight-lipped as she was swamped by reporters.
After spending more than two hours explaining her trip to the committee, Kuang bowed twice to apologize and asked that the public give her another chance during the remainder of her term.
“I apologize again for causing negative reactions and damaging the KMT’s reputation ... I will cooperate 100 percent with the investigations,” she said last night at KMT headquarters.
“I hope the public will give me a second chance. I will spare no effort to finish my term and fight for the best interests of Taitung,” she said.
Kuang was named an interested party on Tuesday after being questioned by Taitung prosecutors amid accusations that she had wasted more than NT$10 million (US$325,000) in public funds on eight overseas trips since she assumed her position in 2006.
Kuang denied that taking 10 township heads on the 13-day European tour was designed to secure their support in next year’s local government elections.
The Taitung County Government’s budget for government staffer inspection trips abroad had been decreasing since she assumed office, Kuang said.
Earlier yesterday, Kuang surprised many by showing up at the county government office after Taitung County Government Secretary-General Wu You-chin (吳有進) had earlier told reporters that the commissioner had called in to ask for leave.
Kuang declined to answer questions from the media as she headed for her office.
She later held an extraordinary meeting with senior officials at the county government before flying to Taipei.
KMT Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) declined to comment on the controversy surrounding Kuang yesterday when approached by reporters.
However, Wu said earlier this week that Kuang should cancel her trip to the Beijing Olympics and other planned trips.
“The most important thing is how the public feels ... As far as I know, she will not leave the country again before the end of the year,” he said.
Asked if she was worried about her chances of being re-elected next year, Kuang said she fully respected the choice of Taitung residents.
The KMT’s Integrity Committee has no authority to investigate possible abuses of power or corruption.
Juan said yesterday that the Integrity Committee was an independent body formed to look into the behavior of members.
According to KMT party regulations, a party member is subject to disciplinary action from the party if convicted of a crime.
Additional reporting by Flora Wang
‘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 magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
RSS