The Democratic Progressive Party yesterday accused Council of Agriculture Minister Chen Wu-hsiung (陳武雄) of violating the law by campaigning for Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taichung Mayor Jason Hu’s (胡志強) re-election during a government conference.
The council held a conference on Saturday in Taichung County to discuss the establishment of a woodcarving and forestry cultural park in the county.
Chen and Hu co-chaired the conference.
Hu said he fully supported the council’s proposal to establish a cultural park, adding that the government body should inject more money into the project to create a world-class cultural park.
Saying Hu always sought to have great parks or museums built in Taichung, Chen then pointed a finger at the mayor and said: “He must win the [Nov. 27 special municipalities] election. If he does not …”
At which point Hu cut in, singing: “Double, double the budget” with some participants in the room.
DPP spokesperson Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌), who also serves as a spokesman for DPP Taichung mayoral candidate Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全), said Chen’s remarks violated the principle of impartiality for government officials and may also have violated regulations on vote-buying, because he hinted that if Hu did not win, the council could decide not to grant the budget for the proposed park.
Asked for comment, Chen denied using the conference to campaign for the KMT’s candidate, saying he was only talking about building the cultural park and budget matters associated with the project.
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
City buses in Taipei and New Taipei City, as well as the Taipei MRT, would on Saturday begin accepting QR code payments from five electronic payment providers, the Taipei Department of Transportation said yesterday. The new option would allow passengers to use the “transportation QR code” feature from EasyWallet, iPass Money, iCash Pay, Jkopay or PXPay Plus. Passengers should open their preferred electronic payment app, select the “transportation code” — not the regular payment code — unlock it, and scan the code at ticket readers or gates, General Planning Division Director-General Liu Kuo-chu (劉國著) said. People should move through the
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) today released images of the military tracking China’s People's Liberation Army (PLA) movements during the latest round of Chinese drills around Taiwan. The PLA began "Justice Mission 2025" drills today, carrying out live-fire drills, simulated strikes on land and maritime targets, and exercises to blockade the nation's main ports. The exercises are to continue tomorrow, with the PLA announcing sea and air space restrictions for five zones around Taiwan for 10 hours starting from 8:30am. The ministry today released images showing a Chinese J-16 fighter jet tracked by a F-16V Block 20 jet and the
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