Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers yesterday said that if the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) were to select a China-born legislative candidate it would pose national security concerns, while the TPP accused the ruling party of employing “double standards.”
The TPP has come under fire for its rumored selection of Taiwan New Residents Development Association chairwoman Xu Chunying (徐春鶯), the wife of a Taiwanese man and an advocate for foreign-born spouses, for its list of legislator-at-large nominees.
The TPP has yet to confirm or deny the selection of Xu, which was first reported by Mirror Media on Thursday last week.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
TPP Chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) on Sunday said that Xu was merely “under consideration” for a spot on the party’s list.
Xu in a statement released on Friday denied allegations that she was a member of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) during her time in China, and that she had held a CCP-supervised position in Shanghai prior to moving to Taiwan in 1993.
Ko’s campaign director, Huang Shan-shan (黃珊珊), wrote on social media on Sunday that the DPP was hypocritical for criticizing Xu’s candidacy.
She said that the DPP appointed former CCP member Ning Jiarong (寧家榮) to an internal party committee several years ago.
The DPP should be consistent and “refrain from employing double standards,” Huang said.
Later the same day, Vice President William Lai, the DPP’s presidential candidate, told a campaign event in Hsinchu that Taiwanese “would not accept” Xu being given access to confidential foreign affairs and national defense documents.
Lai dismissed comparisons made between the TPP’s selection of Xu and the appointment of Ning to the DPP’s new residents committee, saying that the two cases were “completely different.”
Separately on Sunday, Ko told reporters that Xu would be asked not to sit on politically sensitive committees in the Legislative Yuan related to foreign affairs and national defense if elected as a TPP legislator, adding that she could instead join the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee.
Taiwan would not be considered a country ruled by law and order if a person who has obtained a Republic of China identification card cannot exercise the right to participate in politics, Ko added.
DPP Legislator Tsai Shih-ying (蔡適應) yesterday said that Ko’s remarks revealed two things.
“One is that the TPP has indeed decided to enlist Xu as one of its legislators-at-large,” Tsai said. “Second, it would be a ... conflict of interest if Xu were to be on the Internal Administration Committee, as the committee covers issues relating to laws such as the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), Nationality Act (國籍法) and Household Registration Act (戶籍法), under all of which Xu is a person of concern,” he said.
Xu would not be a representative of the TPP, but a representative of the CCP in Taiwan, “which would be a great satire and pose great harm to Taiwan’s national security and democratic system,” Tsai added.
On Jan. 13 next year, Taiwanese are to vote to elect a president and vice president, as well as 113 members of the Legislative Yuan. This includes a total of 34 legislator-at-large seats, which are allocated to legislators selected from a party list rather than a constituency.
Additional reporting by Yang Yuan-ting
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and