Taipei Mayoral candidates Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday defended the lineups of their election teams, after they have been criticized for allegedly giving posts to family members of government officials.
KMT Taipei City Councilor Hsu Chiao-hsin (徐巧芯) on Monday posted a picture of Chen’s campaign team on Facebook, including their names and telephone numbers, saying that several of them are the daughter or son of government officials.
Chen’s campaign team decried the publication of the picture, saying that revealing staff’s personal data is against the law and Hsu should apologize.
Photo: CNA
Hsu later removed the picture, but posted it again with the names and phone numbers blacked out.
“This pan-green camp’s second-generation fleet is such a big bonus to the team,” she wrote.
DPP Legislator Chuang Jui-hsiung (莊瑞雄), Chen’s election campaign spokesman, on Tuesday said Hsu and Chiang’s campaign team should explain how they obtained the telephone numbers and whether they used illegal means to do so.
Staff at the campaign headquarters are not the campaign’s window to the public, so their contact information should not have been made public, Chuang said, urging Chiang to declare whether he approves of such methods.
DPP Legislator Hsu Chih-chieh (許智傑) posted a list of Chiang’s campaign team on Facebook, including whether their parents have served as legislators or government officials.
However, Hsu Chih-chieh wrote that as long as they are willing to make an effort for the nation, it does not matter whether they are from a politically influential family.
Chiang, being from a political family himself, would be given his fair chance by voters in Taipei, he added.
Making public the names and family connections of staff members who are not public figures is appropriate, he said, adding that he does not understand why Chiang’s team is “slapping itself in the face.”
Chiang is a great-grandson of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), grandson of former president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國), and son of former KMT vice chairman and legislator John Chiang (蔣孝嚴).
Chiang Wan-an yesterday said his team comprises many elected representatives, who would not try to hide their family backgrounds, nor become angry when their names are made public or try to have their information blacked out on confidentiality grounds.
The DPP candidate said that people can criticize any second-generation political figure whom they think is underqualified for their job and got the post based on family connections.
Members of his team who come from political families hold basic-level positions, Chen said, adding that his campaign enables them to learn how to conduct political campaigns at the grass-roots level.
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