The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday said a local branch was looking into Hualien County Commissioner Hsieh Shen-shan’s (謝深山) public endorsement of independent candidate Chang Chi-ming (張志明), who left the KMT to run against the party’s candidate in the election.
Hsieh attended a campaign event held by Chang, Hualien County deputy commissioner, on Monday, sparking concern about his violating party regulations to campaign for non-party members.
KMT Secretary-General Chan Chun-po (詹春柏) said yesterday that the party had asked its Hualien branch to look into the matter, declining to confirm whether or not the KMT would punish Hsieh.
“We will handle the issue according to the report presented by the local branch,” he said.
Asked whether the KMT was refraining from punishing Hsieh, a long-term party member and an influential politician in Hualien, Chan said the party adopted tough regulations against any members who campaigned for candidates from other parties.
Juan Kang-meng (阮剛猛), director of the KMT’s Party Disciplinary Committee, said the party had revoked the membership of Hsinchu County Commissioner Cheng Yung-chin (鄭永金) for campaigning for independent candidate Chang Bi-chin (張碧琴) and that the party would adopt the same standard with Hsieh’s case.
In related news, in his capacity as KMT chairman, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday led party officials to pay their respects to Sun Yat-sen (孫中山) to celebrate the 115th anniversary of the party’s precursor, the Revive China Society.
Ma later visited Hsinchu County again to campaign for party candidate Chiu Ching-chun (邱鏡淳) last night.
The situation in Hsinchu remains tense as the KMT faces a split in the county. Cheng has been endorsing Chang Bi-chin, whose party membership was revoked for insisting on running in the election.
Meanwhile, Liu Ti-hao (劉櫂豪), the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) candidate for Taitung commissioner, yesterday drew a parallel between his rival, Justin Huang (黃健庭), and Fu Kun-chi (傅崑萁), who is running for commissioner in Hualien County as an independent candidate after being ousted from the KMT.
Fu, the frontrunner in the Hualien race, was barred by the KMT from taking part in the party primary after being found guilty in his first and second trials in two separate legal cases.
The KMT has been trying to divert potential votes from Fu to its candidate Tu Li-hua (杜麗華) by saying that Fu might not be able to assume office even if he wins the election as his third trial is expected to end soon. If found guilty, he would have to serve time in jail.
Liu said that the KMT should have disciplined Huang, who was also indicted for corruption.
Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義), however, disagreed.
“There is no comparison between the case of Fu and Huang,” he said. “As Huang was indicted and not found guilty, we can assume that he is not guilty.”
In related news, the DPP yesterday said a private investigator it hired to look into allegations of vote-buying in Yilan County was forced to divulge information he had gathered to the KMT camp.
Speaking at a press conference, DPP spokesman Chuang Shuo-han (莊碩漢) said the party would sue the KMT for violating personal liberties and coercion by demanding the detective disclose the information.
Chuang said the party hired private investigators to help with its anti-vote buying effort and that recently one of the hired detectives was pressured into going to the campaign headquarters of KMT candidate Chen Han-chung (陳漢鐘) to relinquish his equipment and all the information he had gathered. Chuang called on the KMT to “play by the rules.”
DPP Deputy Secretary-General Hung Yao-fu (洪耀福) said party headquarters had information that a chief staffer of KMT Chiayi County candidate Wong Chung-chung’s (翁重鈞) campaign recently changed more than NT$1 million from NT$1,000 into NT$500 bills.
The DPP urged prosecutors to look into why the exchanges were made, saying it suspected the smaller bills might be used to bribe local voters.
Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China when traveling in countries with close ties to Beijing, Taiwan Association of University Professors deputy chairman Chen Li-fu (陳俐甫) said on Friday. Chen’s comments came after China on Friday last week announced new judicial guidelines targeting Taiwanese independence advocates. Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Djibouti are among the countries where Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China, he said. The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday elevated the travel alert for China, Hong Kong and Macau to “orange” after Beijing announced its guidelines to “severely punish Taiwanese independence diehards for splitting the country and inciting secession.” Extradition treaties
Taiwan and Thailand have signed an agreement to promote and protect bilateral investment and trade, the Executive Yuan’s Office of Trade Negotiations (OTN) said on Friday. The agreement on “Promotion and Protection of Investments” was signed by Representative to Thailand Chang Chun-fu (張俊福) and Thailand Trade and Economic Office in Taipei executive director Narong Boonsatheanwong on Thursday, the OTN said in a news release. Thailand has become the fifth trading partner to sign an investment agreement with Taiwan since 2016, following earlier agreements with the Philippines, India, Vietnam and Canada, the OTN said. The deal marks a significant milestone in the development of
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
CROSS-BORDER CRIME: The suspects cannot be charged with cybercrime in Indonesia as their targets were in Malaysia, an Indonesian immigration director said Indonesian immigration authorities have detained 103 Taiwanese after a raid at a villa on Bali, officials said yesterday. They were accused of misusing their visas and residence permits, and are suspected of possible cybercrimes, Safar Muhammad Godam, director of immigration supervision and enforcement at the Indonesian Ministry of Law and Human Rights told reporters at a news conference. “The 103 foreign nationals stayed at the villa and conducted suspicious activities, which we suspect are activities related to cybercrime activities,” he said, presenting laptops and routers at the news conference. Godam said Indonesian authorities cannot charge them with conducting cybercrime. “During the inspection, we