New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) will run for re-election in the mayoral election in November because he has no other option, Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) Secretary-General Lin Chih-chia (林志嘉) — who is also the party’s candidate in the election — told a press conference yesterday.
“I would say [the possibility of Chu running for re-election is] 100 percent. It’s my assessment though — you don’t have to believe me, but time will tell,” Lin said, adding that he had full confidence that he could beat Chu by more than 100,000 votes in the election.
Chu has yet to declare whether he would be running for re-election, fueling speculation that he might decide against doing so and focus on vying for the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) nomination for the presidential race in 2016.
Photo: Lai Hsiao-tung, Taipei Times
Lin also accused Chu of hushing up his share in a company owned by his father-in-law, Kao Yu-jen (高育仁), worth approximately NT$2 million, on his civil servant’s property declaration in 2010 when he served as vice premier.
Citing information in the annual report of Tai Tung Communication Co, Lin said Chu held 1.05 percent of the company’s shares.
The company, which the Kao family invested in in 2000, had won 160 government bids over the past 14 years, including 47 bids between 2000 and 2001, when Chu was a legislator, on 56 tenders — a 83 percent winning rate, Lin added.
“Chu should offer an explanation, as this is a potential corruption case that involves his integrity,” Lin said.
Chien Sheng-che (簡聖哲), a TSU candidate in the Taipei City council elections, said Chu could have violated the Act on Recusal of Public Servants Due to Conflicts of Interest (公務人員利益衝突迴避法), which prohibits public servants or their families from securing government bids.
According to Chien, Chu had declared the 7.89 percent shareholding of his wife, Kao Wan-chien (高婉倩), in his report in 2010, but left out his own investment in the report.
In response, Chu said yesterday morning before the TSU press conference that the allegation was groundless and was only a campaign activity to boost Lin’s profile.
READY: The CGA said it closely monitored China’s maritime exercise, deployed vessels to shadow the Chinese ships one-on-one and set up emergency response centers Chinese navy and coast guard ships have returned to China, signaling the end of a massive maritime exercise, authorities said yesterday. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) released images it said showed Chinese vessels sailing north in rough seas past Taiwan on Thursday, on their way to China. “All the Chinese coast guard went back to China yesterday, so although they have not officially made any announcement, we consider it over,” CGA Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) said. Beijing has not confirmed the drills and the Chinese Ministry of National Defense did not say whether the maneuvers had taken place when asked at a
People can take the Taipei MRT free of charge if they access it at Nanjing Sanmin Station or Taipei Arena Station on the Green Line between 12am and 6am on Jan. 1, the Taipei Department of Transportation said on Friday, outlining its plans to ease crowding during New Year’s events in the capital. More than 200,000 people are expected to attend New Year’s Eve events in Taipei, with singer A-mei (張惠妹) performing at the Taipei Dome and the city government’s New Year’s Eve party at Taipei City Hall Plaza, the department said. As people have tended to use the MRT’s Blue or
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Taiwanese professional baseball should update sports stadiums and boost engagement to enhance fans’ experience, Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) commissioner Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) in an interview on Friday. The league has urged Farglory Group and the Taipei City Government to improve the Taipei Dome’s outdated equipment, including relatively rudimentary television and sound systems, and poor technology, he said. The Tokyo Dome has markedly better television and sound systems, despite being 30 years old, because its managers continually upgraded its equipment, Tsai said. In contrast, the Taipei Dome lacked even a room for referees
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