Supporters of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate for the Yunlin legislative by-election have received threatening phone calls, his office said yesterday, and police have been informed.
Kung Hsing-sheng (龔興生), secretary-general of candidate Chang Ken-hui’s (張艮輝) office reportedly received a cellphone call at 9:25pm on Sunday night from someone who threatened to “kill his whole family” if he continued to support Chang.
The police said they would investigate the complaint.
The alleged threat came on the heels of the detention of a borough warden on Sunday on suspicion of buying votes for Chang.
Prosecutors and investigators said they have questioned 18 people, including Dounan Township (斗南) warden and borough wardens, with 11 borough wardens admitting that they received NT$1,000 apiece to support Chang.
His office has denied the allegation, which it blamed on his rival, independent candidate Chang Hui-yuan (張輝元).
The by-election is needed to fill the seat left vacant by Chang Hui-yuan’s son, Chang Sho-wen (張碩文), who won the seat in January last year, but lost it this year after the High Court found him guilty of being part of in a vote-buying scheme organized by his father.
Chang Hui-yuan, who was found guilty of vote buying in the first trial, wanted to run as the KMT candidate in the election, but the party rejected his registration because its “black-gold exclusion clause” bars members found guilty of corruption in their first trial from standing for public office.
Chang Sho-wen filed a defamation lawsuit against Kung at the Yunlin Prosecutors’ Office yesterday, accusing him of making groundless vote-buying allegations.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) urged prosecutors to handle the case impartially.
Saying the allegation was just the tip of the iceberg, DPP spokesman Chao Tien-lin (趙天麟) called on President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who takes over the KMT chairmanship next month, to make his position known on the matter.
Meanwhile, the KMT said that it would choose its candidate for the Nantou legislative by-election via a telephone poll.
The decision was made yesterday afternoon during a meeting chaired by KMT Secretary-General Chan Chun-po (詹春柏). The poll will be conducted between Oct. 2 and Oct. 4 and the candidate will be announced on Oct. 5.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS