More than 200 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) supporters yesterday protested outside the office of Taoyuan City Councilor Wang Hao-yu (王浩宇), a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) member, angered by his Facebook post about the late Kaohsiung City Council speaker Hsu Kun-yuan (許崑源).
Protesters outside Wang’s office in Jhongli District (中壢) said the post made light of Hsu’s death on Saturday night, hours after the recall election of Kaohsiung mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜).
“Staunchly support Han Kuo-yu! Kaohsiung City Council Speaker Hsu Kun-yuan has died after falling from a building,” Wang wrote.
Photo: Lee Jung-ping, Taipei Times
DPP Taipei City Councilor Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) has also come under fire for a Facebook post on Saturday asking if Hsu’s death was linked to gambling debts. Liang deleted the post and issued an apology later that night.
KMT Taoyuan City Councilor Chan Chiang-tsun (詹江村) and former KMT legislator Wu Yu-jen (吳育仁) yesterday called on supporters to protest in front of Wang’s office.
Wang had made similar remarks in the past, which showed he was unfit to hold office, Chan said, citing a post about a protester against pension reforms who fell from a building and died in 2018, and a post after former premier Hau Pei-tsun (郝柏村) died in March.
Wang’s office closed for the day, and at about noon the Jhongli Police Precinct erected barricades in front of the office, restricted traffic on the road in front of it to one direction and deployed a large number of officers at the site as a precautionary measure.
More than 200 people showed up to protest. After reading condolences for Hsu, some of them began yelling insults at Wang’s office, calling for his recall and throwing eggs at the building.
The crowd became agitated after Wu and two others were taken away by police for contravening the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法).
Separately, about 50 members of the Blue Sky Action Alliance, the pro-unification Concentric Patriotism Association and other groups protested outside Liang’s office in Taipei’s Datong District (大同), calling for his recall.
Liang’s office, which was closed, issued a statement saying Liang respected the protesters’ views and asked for them to remain calm.
In other developments, Han led Kaohsiung City Government officials in paying respects to Hsu at a funeral hall in the city, where he recited chants from Buddhism’s Heart Sutra (心經) for an hour.
New Power Party Kaohsiung City Councilor Huang Jie (黃捷) also visited the funeral home to pay respects to Hsu, but was criticized by Wu Chiu-li (吳秋麗), an official in Kaohsiung’s Legal Affairs Department, for wearing red lipstick to the wake and not wearing a mask while inside.
Additional reporting by Chen Wen-chan and Kuo An-chia
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
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
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if the next president of that country decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said today. “We would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said during a legislative hearing. At the same time, Taiwan is paying close attention to the Central American region as a whole, in the wake of a visit there earlier this year by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Lin said. Rubio visited Panama, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Guatemala, during which he