Control Yuan member Chen Chin-jun (陳景峻) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday accused Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) of political manipulation following a media report of Ko alleging that Chen was involved in a city construction project scandal.
A Chinese-language China Times article yesterday said that Ko in January reported Chen to the Taipei Department of Government Ethics and the Ministry of Justice’s Agency Against Corruption after Chen was allegedly found to have signed off on a luxury apartment building integrated with the MRT Xinyi Anhe Station while he was Taipei deputy mayor.
The report, quoting a Taipei city councilor that requested anonymity, said that the move was Ko’s attempt to embarrass President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), the DPP chairperson.
Photo: Chen Yun, Taipei Times
Original plans for the building drafted under former Taipei mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) required that an access road be built around the perimeter, but Chen allegedly signed off on plans that did not include the road.
Responding to criticism from Chen that he had resorted to political manipulation, Ko said that the case was brought to his attention by DPP Taipei City Councilor Chien Shu-pei (簡舒培) in November last year.
“The DPP’s internal strife has nothing to do with me,” Ko said.
The DPP has no internal strife, Chien told reporters, adding that she has requested that the case be investigated, although she did not specify a person of interest.
Chien said that Taipei Deputy Mayor Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) told her in January that a comprehensive investigation would be done — and not one that only targeted Chen.
“If there were concerns about Chen before, why did Ko not object to the DPP nominating him as a Control Yuan member earlier this year,” she asked.
Ko seems to be diverting attention from his party’s loss in the Kaohsiung mayoral by-election, as well as the resignation of Taipei Livestock Products Marketing Corp general manager Yao Liang-yi (姚量議) on Tuesday, she added.
Ko knew that the contractor was moving ahead with the project without building the access road as early as 2017, when concerns were raised by the area’s borough warden, she said, asking why he had not acted on his concerns at that time.
Ko seems to have avoided dealing with the issue because it involves a subsidiary of Radium Life Tech Co that had a joint development project with the city, she said.
A source familiar with the case said that an investigation conducted by the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office and sent to the Agency Against Corruption for further investigation did not implicate Chen.
The agency did not respond to a request for comment.
Additional reporting by Wu Cheng-feng
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
RSS