The Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) Taipei mayoral candidate Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday criticized the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) for planning to revoke the membership of a retired party staffer who has decided to support Su.
Peng Pin-yi (彭炳義), a former borough chief in Songshan District (松山), who has been a KMT member for more than 40 years, was furious at a handwritten note on an envelope containing an election campaign notification sent by the KMT’s Taipei branch, which described him as being “pro-green.” Incensed, Peng attended a campaign event organized by Su on Thursday night and publicly endorsed the DPP candidate.
“Peng decided to support me because he believes in my capabilities. The KMT, instead of reflecting upon its own mistakes, plans to punish him. That is a double error of judgment by the KMT,” Su said yesterday after visiting Guandu Temple.
Peng lashed out at the KMT for labeling him pro-green and said he decided to support Su despite the party’s threat to revoke his party membership.
KMT Taipei branch director Pan Chia-sen (潘家森) yesterday declined to confirm whether the party would cancel Peng’s membership and accused the DPP of manipulating the issue.
He further challenged the authenticity of the envelope, arguing that the party does not make notes on campaign letters to members. The envelope provided by Peng as evidence had no party member number, which strongly suggests it could be a fake, Pan said.
“We do not label party members because they all have a pro-blue stance ... Mr. Peng should talk to us if he has any problems,” Pan added.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it is fully aware of the situation following reports that the son of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai (薄熙來) has arrived in Taiwan and is to marry a Taiwanese. Local media reported that Bo Guagua (薄瓜瓜), son of the former member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is to marry the granddaughter of Luodong Poh-Ai Hospital founder Hsu Wen-cheng (許文政). The pair met when studying abroad and arranged to get married this year, with the wedding breakfast to be held at The One holiday resort in Hsinchu
The Taipei Zoo on Saturday said it would pursue legal action against a man who was filmed climbing over a railing to tease and feed spotted hyenas in their enclosure earlier that day. In videos uploaded to social media on Saturday, a man can be seen climbing over a protective railing and approaching a ledge above the zoo’s spotted hyena enclosure, before dropping unidentified objects down to two of the animals. The Taipei Zoo in a statement said the man’s actions were “extremely inappropriate and even illegal.” In addition to monitoring the hyenas’ health, the zoo would collect evidence provided by the public
A decision to describe a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Singapore’s Taiwan policy as “erroneous” was made because the city-state has its own “one China policy” and has not followed Beijing’s “one China principle,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said yesterday. It has been a longstanding practice for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to speak on other countries’ behalf concerning Taiwan, Tien said. The latest example was a statement issued by the PRC after a meeting between Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines of the APEC summit
‘SIGN OF DANGER’: Beijing has never directly named Taiwanese leaders before, so China is saying that its actions are aimed at the DPP, a foundation official said National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) yesterday accused Beijing of spreading propaganda, saying that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had singled out President William Lai (賴清德) in his meeting with US President Joe Biden when talking about those whose “true nature” seek Taiwanese independence. The Biden-Xi meeting took place on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Peru on Saturday. “If the US cares about maintaining peace across the Taiwan Strait, it is crucial that it sees clearly the true nature of Lai and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in seeking Taiwanese independence, handles the Taiwan question with extra