Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) member Harry Lee’s (李來希) criticism of New Power Party (NPP) Legislator Claire Wang (王婉諭), including his comments about Wang’s slain daughter, yesterday sparked a public outcry, prompting the KMT to distance itself from Lee.
“Wang has forgotten where she came from, using her own daughter’s head as a stepping stone,” Lee said, accusing Wang of exploiting her daughter’s death for her own political gain.
Lee, best known for leading protests against the government’s pension reform targeting civil servants, said on Facebook that Wang had no feud with Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), and therefore no reason to support Han’s recall.
Photo: Huang Yao-cheng, Taipei Times
“The head of ‘little lightbulb’ had been kicked to Kaohsiung by her mother,” he added.
Wang’s four-year-old daughter, nicknamed “little lightbulb,” was beheaded in 2016 by then-33-year-old Wang Ching-yu (王景玉), who was diagnosed with schizophrenia.
The Supreme Court on April 15 dismissed Claire Wang’s appeal and upheld a lower court’s ruling of life imprisonment and civil rights deprivation for life for Wang Ching-yu.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
Claire Wang said that her personal loss should not be used to create political confrontation and panned Lee for making such vitriolic comments.
She said that Lee was not the first to make such comments and she believed that a politician should only be criticized in the performance of their duties.
Lee’s comments underscored the public mindset that victims, or their families, must be “helpless and weak” and not be allowed an opinion, she said, adding that this mindset turns the public against victims when they try to appeal for redress, blaming them for “using the death of a family to advance their own cause.”
Despite the protection of freedom of speech, such malevolent speech should not be allowed for it contributes nothing to the nation’s advancement, Wang said.
NPP Chairman Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智) strongly condemned Lee’s comments, calling on Han, who has long called for open-mindedness, and the KMT to make known their stance regarding such malignant commentary.
The KMT does not condone Lee’s commentary and urges him to issue an apology, KMT Culture and Communications Committee chair Alicia Wang (王育敏) said.
The party, like Han, feels that Lee’s comments was rubbing salt in Wang’s wounds and the death of a child should not be talked about in such a manner, Alicia Wang said.
KMT Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) said on Facebook that Lee’s manipulation of a tragedy — and the fear of any parent — was despicable and should not be condoned.
“One can have different political views, but one should, as a decent human being, know that there are lines that should not be crossed,” Chiang said.
Should Lee refuse to apologize, the party would forward the issue to the Central Evaluation and Discipline Committee, which would begin a probe against Lee by the local party chapter, a source in the party said on condition of anonymity.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by