The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has nominated Taipei City Councilor Wang Jia-jen (王家貞) as a legislative candidate for Tainan’s fifth electoral district, but she is on probation after being convicted of forgery. Under the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法) she cannot run as a candidate. Accordingly, the Tainan City Electoral Commission on Friday last week announced that Wang is not eligible.
She responded by accusing the Democratic Progressive Party of acting unconstitutionally and unlawfully by depriving a citizen of their right of political participation. She held a rally on Saturday, calling for people to “get angry” and not vote for “any old candidate.”
KMT Legislator Sandy Yu (游毓蘭) and the Tainan City Council KMT caucus say that Wang’s probation prevents her from running for office due to amendments to the act enacted at the end of May.
The amendments to Article 26 added a number of new conditions for not being able to register as a candidate. The regulations originally only applied to those who had committed sedition or treason, but the amendments added provisions affecting those found guilty of corruption or offenses against the Organized Crime Prevention Act (組織犯罪防制條例), National Security Act (國家安全法), Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), National Intelligence Work Act (國家情報工作法), Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act (毒品危害防制條例), Controlling Guns, Ammunition and Knives Act (槍砲彈藥刀械管制條例) or Money Laundering Control Act (洗錢防制法).
Is Wang really ineligible under the changes because she was convicted and sentenced to probation for forgery?
In July 2017, the Ministry of the Interior passed draft amendments to the Public Officials Election and Recall Act, which stipulate that those who have been convicted of bribing voters, obstructing their freedom to vote or similar or equivalent offenses, and those who have been sentenced to the death penalty, life in prison or imprisonment of more than 10 years, but whose sentence has not been confirmed, including those who are on probation, cannot register as candidates for public office.
The ministry sent these draft amendments to the Legislative Yuan for deliberation. Having been enacted, the amended clauses came into effect in time for the November 2018 local government elections.
The matter of not being allowed to register as a candidate while on probation is due not to the amendments to the Public Officials Election and Recall Act that were passed at the end of May, but because of the 2017 amendments. The KMT’s fallacious argument of “using a Qing Dynasty sword to behead a Ming Dynasty official” glosses over the party’s inability to review the eligibility of its own nominees and that Wang was convicted of forgery related to her assistants’ expenses.
Nevertheless, Wang and the KMT expect the residents of Tainan to “get angry” and refuse to vote for “any old candidate.” The KMT clearly underestimates the intelligence of voters.
Although Wang cannot stand as a legislative candidate, she can continue to serve as a city councilor, so her right of political participation has not been denied. Furthermore, it is worth asking why KMT Legislator Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁) could be jailed for a year while still in office, while Wang can merrily continue as a city councilor after being convicted of fraud.
Lin Han is a junior-high schoolteacher.
Translated by Julian Clegg
Why is Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) not a “happy camper” these days regarding Taiwan? Taiwanese have not become more “CCP friendly” in response to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) use of spies and graft by the United Front Work Department, intimidation conducted by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the Armed Police/Coast Guard, and endless subversive political warfare measures, including cyber-attacks, economic coercion, and diplomatic isolation. The percentage of Taiwanese that prefer the status quo or prefer moving towards independence continues to rise — 76 percent as of December last year. According to National Chengchi University (NCCU) polling, the Taiwanese
It would be absurd to claim to see a silver lining behind every US President Donald Trump cloud. Those clouds are too many, too dark and too dangerous. All the same, viewed from a domestic political perspective, there is a clear emerging UK upside to Trump’s efforts at crashing the post-Cold War order. It might even get a boost from Thursday’s Washington visit by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. In July last year, when Starmer became prime minister, the Labour Party was rigidly on the defensive about Europe. Brexit was seen as an electorally unstable issue for a party whose priority
US President Donald Trump is systematically dismantling the network of multilateral institutions, organizations and agreements that have helped prevent a third world war for more than 70 years. Yet many governments are twisting themselves into knots trying to downplay his actions, insisting that things are not as they seem and that even if they are, confronting the menace in the White House simply is not an option. Disagreement must be carefully disguised to avoid provoking his wrath. For the British political establishment, the convenient excuse is the need to preserve the UK’s “special relationship” with the US. Following their White House
US President Donald Trump’s return to the White House has brought renewed scrutiny to the Taiwan-US semiconductor relationship with his claim that Taiwan “stole” the US chip business and threats of 100 percent tariffs on foreign-made processors. For Taiwanese and industry leaders, understanding those developments in their full context is crucial while maintaining a clear vision of Taiwan’s role in the global technology ecosystem. The assertion that Taiwan “stole” the US’ semiconductor industry fundamentally misunderstands the evolution of global technology manufacturing. Over the past four decades, Taiwan’s semiconductor industry, led by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), has grown through legitimate means
RSS