Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Chang Sho-wen (張碩文), whose election victory was annulled on vote-buying charges, urged the KMT yesterday not to be ungrateful to his family after the KMT’s Yunlin chapter disqualified his father from a legislative by-election because of his alleged involvement in his son’s vote-buying.
He accused Yunlin prosecutors of conspiring to frame his father Chang Hui-yuan (張輝元), head of an irrigation association in Yunlin, as part of their investigation into the vote-buying allegations.
Chang Sho-wen showed a press conference at the legislature video footage of a conversation between a lawyer and a witness in his father’s case, in which the lawyer says they must “discuss with prosecutors what to say against Chang Hui-yuan.”
PHOTO: CHANG CHIA-MING, TAIPEI TIMES
“[Prosecutors] fabricated witness statements and colluded [with witnesses] in Chang Hui-yuan’s case,” Chang Sho-wen said. “Mr Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said he hoped future politicians will have integrity, ideals, love for the people and principles. Doesn’t Chang Hui-yuan fit the profile?”
Chang Sho-wen was found guilty of election bribery at his first trial in Yunlin. Prosecutors alleged that his father solicited votes for his son by offering cash bribes to voters during last year’s legislative elections.
The Tainan branch of the Taiwan High Court annulled Chang Sho-wen’s election victory on June 30 on the ground that he was aware of and had taken part in the vote-buying scheme allegedly organized by his father. The annulment was a civil suit.
Chang Hui-yuan, who is in his 70s, then registered in the KMT’s primary for the by-election.
The KMT’s Yunlin chapter ruled in a preliminary review on Sunday to disqualify Chang Hui-yuan as a result of the party’s “black gold exclusion clause,” which states that members who are found guilty of corruption in their first trial cannot to be nominated for any elections.
“We could have announced that we would run as an independent candidate, but we would rather not do that because we did not do anything wrong,” Chang Sho-wen said.
“We are faithful party members. I cannot be ungrateful to the KMT, but if the KMT chooses to be ungrateful to us, we will have no choice but to follow the voice of grassroots supporters,” he said.
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
EVA Air is prohibiting the use of portable chargers on board all flights starting from Saturday, while China Airlines is advising passengers not to use them, following the lead of South Korean airlines. Current regulations prohibit portable chargers and lithium batteries from check-in luggage and require them to be properly packed in carry-on baggage, EVA Air said. To improve onboard safety, portable chargers and spare lithium batteries would be prohibited from use on all fights starting on Saturday, it said. Passengers are advised to fully charge electronic devices before boarding and use the AC and USB charging outlets at their seat, it said. South
WAR SIMULATION: The developers of the board game ‘2045’ consulted experts and analysts, and made maps based on real-life Chinese People’s Liberation Army exercises To stop invading Chinese forces seizing Taiwan, board gamer Ruth Zhong chooses the nuclear option: Dropping an atomic bomb on Taipei to secure the nation’s freedom and her victory. The Taiwanese board game 2045 is a zero-sum contest of military strategy and individual self-interest that puts players on the front lines of a simulated Chinese attack. Their battlefield game tactics would determine the theoretical future of Taiwan, which in the real world faces the constant threat of a Chinese invasion. “The most interesting part of this game is that you have to make continuous decisions based on the evolving situation,
Actor Lee Wei (李威) was released on bail on Monday after being named as a suspect in the death of a woman whose body was found in the meeting place of a Buddhist group in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) last year, prosecutors said. Lee, 44, was released on NT$300,000 (US$9,148) bail, while his wife, surnamed Chien (簡), was released on NT$150,000 bail after both were summoned to give statements regarding the woman’s death. The home of Lee, who has retreated from the entertainment business in the past few years, was also searched by prosecutors and police earlier on Monday. Lee was questioned three
RSS