A Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmaker who accused Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Sun Ta-chien (孫大千) told a press conference that DPP Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) had spent half of her special allowance fund, totaling NT$1.8 million (US$54,644), in paying back debts when she served as director of the Information Department and director of Cultural Affairs for Kaohsiung City Government.
"When Kuan held those positions, half of her allowance was wired directly into her personal account, in the same way as Ma. We ask Kuan to explain how she used the money," Sun said.
Tainan City Councilor Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介), a KMT member, said that Kuan's husband Hsu Yang-ming (許陽明) was also doing the same with his special allowance fund when he was Tainan deputy mayor.
Hsieh also accused Hsu of occupying a room in a dormitory, which the city government operates as a profit-making residence, without paying rent while he served in the city government.
In response, Kuan said that Sun's charges were insulting to her.
She admitted that half of her special allowance was wired into her personal account, but said that was how the Kaohsiung City Government dealt with allowances and that she spent all of the money on official expenditure.
"There are no problems with my special allowance. I'm clean," she said, but did not present further details to prove that she had spent the money on official expenditure.
DPP Legislator Hsu Kuo-yung (
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
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The Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) yesterday announced a fundraising campaign to support survivors of the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck Myanmar on March 28, with two prayer events scheduled in Taipei and Taichung later this week. “While initial rescue operations have concluded [in Myanmar], many survivors are now facing increasingly difficult living conditions,” OCAC Minister Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) told a news conference in Taipei. The fundraising campaign, which runs through May 31, is focused on supporting the reconstruction of damaged overseas compatriot schools, assisting students from Myanmar in Taiwan, and providing essential items, such as drinking water, food and medical supplies,
Prosecutors today declined to say who was questioned regarding alleged forgery on petitions to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, after Chinese-language media earlier reported that members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Youth League were brought in for questioning. The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau confirmed that two people had been questioned, but did not disclose any further information about the ongoing investigation. KMT Youth League members Lee Hsiao-liang (李孝亮) and Liu Szu-yin (劉思吟) — who are leading the effort to recall DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) and Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) — both posted on Facebook saying: “I