Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Eric Chu (朱立倫) yesterday accused the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of launching a series of malicious attacks against him, saying the public would not support negative campaign tactics.
“At last, because of my presidential nomination the DPP has started moving, from legal actions and impeachment drives to recall motions and an all-out online smear campaign,” Chu said during a visit to a KMT branch and legislative candidates in Taichung. “It seems the DPP can no longer win the January presidential election lying down.”
Chu made the remarks one day after being called in for questioning by the Special Investigation Division (SID) of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office over his July 19 replacement of Deputy Legislative Speaker Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) as the KMT’s presidential candidate.
Photo: Ou Su-mei, Taipei Times
The SID initiated a probe into the matter earlier this month after two opposition lawmakers — DPP Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) and Taiwan Solidarity Union Legislator Chou Ni-an (周倪安) — took legal action against Chu and KMT Secretary-General Lee Shu-chuan (李四川) over their alleged attempts to coax Hung into dropping out of the Jan. 16 race by offering her a quid pro quo.
“I am extremely repelled by how a political party or politicians can resort to such methods to try to interfere in next year’s presidential election, and the moves are highly detrimental to Taiwanese democracy,” Chu said after stepping out of the SID’s office on Wednesday night.
“We have done nothing wrong and have nothing to hide,” he said.
Chu urged his opponents to refrain from adopting negative campaign tactics for the sake of Taiwanese democracy and future generations.
“I hope these negative attacks and politically motivated manipulations will stop with this generation,” Chu said. “As the presidential candidate of a party aiming to become the ruling party, [DPP Chairperson] Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) should reflect on whether this approach has a positive influence on people.”
Dismissing news reports that he planned to invite Chang Gung Memorial Hospital’s Kaohsiung Branch superintendent Chen Chao-long (陳肇隆), dubbed “the father of liver transplants in Asia,” to be his running mate, Chu said he has not given any thought to the KMT’s potential vice presidential candidates.
“I will keep an open mind. The future leaders of Taiwan do not necessarily have to have a political background or fit certain criteria,” he said.
KMT Vice Chairman Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said he believed every step in Chu and Lee’s handling of the replacement issue was legal, while shrugging off news reports claiming Hung had recorded her meetings with the pair as evidence.
“Attempts by any parties to politically manipulate election results would set a bad example. Hopefully, Chu and Tsai can endeavor to be good role models for the nation’s electoral system and let elections be just about healthy competition, not power struggles,” Hau said.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
Former Taiwan People’s Party chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) may apply to visit home following the death of his father this morning, the Taipei Detention Center said. Ko’s father, Ko Cheng-fa (柯承發), passed away at 8:40am today at the Hsinchu branch of National Taiwan University Hospital. He was 94 years old. The center said Ko Wen-je was welcome to apply, but declined to say whether it had already received an application. The center also provides psychological counseling to people in detention as needed, it added, also declining to comment on Ko Wen-je’s mental state. Ko Wen-je is being held in detention as he awaits trial
RSS