Politics

Hung Hsiu-chu to throw hat into KMT chairperson ring

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/01/19
By: Lee Shu-hua and S.C. Chang

Taipei, Jan. 19 (CNA) Deputy Legislative Speaker Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱)

CNA file photo

CNA file photo

will announce her bid to enter the race for the Kuomintang (KMT) chair post, her aides said late Tuesday.

Other names being raised who are likely to run for the post include Vice President Wu Den-yih (吳敦義); Jason Hu (胡志強), campaign manager for the failed Eric Chu (朱立倫) campaign; and former Taipei Mayor and former KMT Vice Chairman Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌).

The ruling KMT plans to hold a by-election in late February to produce a new leader following the resignation of Chu, who led the party to a major defeat in weekend general elections.

Chu officially stepped down earlier Monday to assume responsibility for the party’s crushing defeat in Saturday’s presidential and legislative elections.     [FULL  STORY]

Ko denies that Ma probe is politically motivated

‘TEST FOR MINISTRY’:One committee member dared the MOJ to continue ‘protecting’ Ma, while Charles Chen said Ko was trying to evade legal liability for ‘false accusations’

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 20, 2016
By: Sean Lin / Staff reporter

A request to investigate alleged violations by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英

Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je laughs at an event in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Chien Jung-feng, Taipei Times

Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je laughs at an event in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Chien Jung-feng, Taipei Times

九) during his time as Taipei mayor in the Taipei Dome case was made in accordance with legal procedures, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said yesterday, adding that the Presidential Office’s allegation that the move was politically motivated was false.

The Taipei Clean Government Committee on Monday said it would forward the case to the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) and request it to investigate Ma’s and former Taipei Department of Finance commissioner Lee Such-der’s (李述德) alleged corruption and the illegal gains made by Taipei Dome contractor Farglory Group.

“Let us see if you dare protect [Ma] after the elections. This is a test for the ministry,” committee member Cheng Wen-long (鄭文龍) said.     [FULL  STORY]

Ko wants hotline with Tsai

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-01-19
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taipei City Mayor Ko Wen-je said Tuesday he 6729797wanted to establish a hotline to talk to President-elect Tsai Ing-wen.

Tsai won a landslide victory in last Saturday’s elections, winning 56 percent of the vote while her Democratic Progressive Party won 68 seats out of 113 at the Legislative Yuan.

Ko was asked about his relations with Tsai Tuesday as he had not been seen in public for two days after the elections.

The outspoken mayor said he had suffered from a cold, but a representative of Tsai’s camp had been in touch with him since the election. He expressed the hope that a hotline could be established between him and the new president, as he was willing to cooperate with her.     [FULL  STORY]

Abe congratulates Tsai on election as Taiwan’s president

Japan Times
Date: Jan 18, 2016

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday congratulated independence-abe-and-putin_650x400_41453100043leaning Tsai Ing-wen for her election as president of Taiwan.

“I would like to express congratulations from the bottom of my heart. I’m hoping that the cooperative relationship between Japan and Taiwan will advance further,” Abe told a session of the Upper House Budget Committee.

“Taiwan is an old friend of Japan’s,” Abe said. “Deciding on a leader through an election based on freedom of speech, the presidential election is a testimony to freedom and democracy in Taiwan.”

Tsai, leader of the main opposition Democratic Progressive Party, won Saturday’s election with 56 percent of the vote against 31 percent for Eric Chu of the China-friendly Nationalist Party, which has held the presidency for the last eight years.     [FULL  STORY]

Ma awaits Tsai’s answer to form a new Cabinet

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-01-18
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

President Ma Ying-jeou said Monday he will not approve Premier Mao Chi-6729576kuo’s resignation before Tsai Ing-wen, president-elect and leader of the majority party in the new Legislature, gives a clear answer to his invitation to form a new Cabinet.

Ma told former U.S. Deputy State Secretary William Burns during his visit to Taiwan after the 2016 general election that he had phoned Tsai to congratulate her on winning the election and told her that he hopes the new government under her leadership will continue to maintain the status quo of peaceful cross-Strait relations.

Ma said during the telephone conversation he told her that since the Democratic Progressive Party under her leadership has become the majority party in the new Legislature, he hopes to appoint a new premier who has the support of the majority party to stabilize the government and avoid government’s “empty run.”     [FULL  STORY]

Mayors in Taichung, Tainan call for relocation of government branches

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-01-18
By: Ko Lin, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Mayors in Taichung and Tainan are calling for the relocation of government 6729580offices to their respective cities, suggesting that not all branches of the government need to be seated in Taipei, reports said Monday.

Taichung Mayor Lin Chia-lung said he proposed moving the Legislative Yuan to his governing city, adding that he hopes the new government will help expedite the feasibility once the transition of political power is completed.

“Relocating the legislature will help save the central government from spending a huge lump of money each year, whereas in Taichung land values are cheaper,” Lin said during a council meeting in the morning.

The legislative building is currently on lease from the Taipei City government, which costs more than NT$100 million (US$3.38 million) in annual rent, he said.     [FULL  STORY]

Eric Chu appoints Huang Min-hui as interim KMT chair

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 19, 2016
By: Stacy Hsu / Staff reporter

Outgoing Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫)

Outgoing Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) vice chairman Han Lung-bin, left and chairman Eric Chu, second left, bows at an extraordinary meeting of the party’s Central Standing Committee in Taipei yesterday afternoon. Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times

Outgoing Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) vice chairman Han Lung-bin, left and chairman Eric Chu, second left, bows at an extraordinary meeting of the party’s Central Standing Committee in Taipei yesterday afternoon. Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times

yesterday appointed KMT vice chairperson Huang Min-hui (黃敏惠) as the party’s interim chairperson, with Chu saying that he would never forget that the party lost the elections under his leadership.

Chu made the remarks before the KMT’s Central Standing Committee (CSC) was set to approve his resignation as party chairman at an extraordinary meeting in Taipei yesterday afternoon.

“I pledged to step down [as KMT chairman] should I be defeated in the elections… The KMT has an established tradition in which its leader takes full responsibility for the party’s loss or victory,” Chu said.

Chu said he would take the largest share of responsibility for the party’s landslide defeat and planned to engage in some serious self-reflection, while apologizing to supporters and all his comrades in the party for letting them down.     [FULL  STORY]

Premier insists DPP form new Cabinet to replace his

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/01/18
By: Tai Ya-chen, Jay Chen and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, Jan. 18 (CNA) Though President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said Monday

Departing Premier Mao Chi-kuo (center).

Departing Premier Mao Chi-kuo (center).

that he would not accept the Cabinet’s resignation for now, Premier Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) went through with his pledge to lead the Cabinet in resigning en masse later that day, according to Cabinet spokesman Sun Lih-chyun (孫立群).

Ma went to the premier’s residence around noon Monday in an effort to retain Mao and his Cabinet but did not meet with him there before Mao led his Cabinet’s resignation, according to Sun.

Mao tendered his resignation Saturday and led the Cabinet’s resignation Monday afternoon in the wake of the ruling Kuomintang’s defeat in Taiwan’s Jan. 16 presidential and legislative elections.     [FULL  STORY]

CHTHONIC Singer FREDDY LIM Elected Legislator In Taiwan

BlabberMouth.net
Date: January 16, 2016

According to Focus Taiwan, Freddy Lim, frontman of the Taiwanese metal freddylimsuit_638band CHTHONIC, was elected Saturday (January 16) as a legislator in Taipei’s 5th District. The singer defeated veteran legislator Lin Yu-fang of the Kuomintang by more than 6,000 votes.

Famous for his long hair and tattoos, Lim was the first rock star in Eastern Asia to run for office and is standing for a brand new political party — the New Power Party (NPP) — which is leading the pro-democracy Youth movement in Taiwan.

A longtime political activist, frontman Freddy Lim recently lent his public profile to several social movements.

The NPP was founded in January 2015 as a brand new political party and emerged from the Sunflower student movement of the previous year, which Lim was at the forefront of. They are advocates for universal human rights, civil and political liberties and protecting Taiwan’s independence as a sovereign state. The party’s main policy is “Transitional Justice,” which, lyrically, has been covered in all of CHTHONIC’s studio albums.     [FULL  STORY]

China, Economy Tests for Taiwan Presidential Winner Tsai

ABC News
Jan 17, 2016
By christopher bodeen, associated press
Associated Press writer Ralph Jennings contributed to this report.

Taiwan’s presidential election victor Tsai Ying-wen will enjoy a broad 6728482mandate from her commanding victory and her independence-leaning party’s new legislative majority, but managing the island’s delicate relations with China will be tricky.

Already, Beijing warned following her Saturday night victory that it will not budge on its bottom line that Taiwan’s leader must agree that the communist mainland and self-governing island democracy are part of a single Chinese nation. The sides could be in for a lengthy wait as China assesses whether it feels it can trust Tsai.

“To handle cross-Taiwan Strait relations after Tsai’s election will be difficult, not just for Taiwan but also for mainland China,” said Huang Jing, a China expert at Singapore National University’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.

Tsai, who will be Taiwan’s first female president, won by 56 percent of the vote to 31 percent for her closest rival Eric Chu of the China-friendly Nationalist Party, which has held the presidency for the last eight years. Her Democratic Progressive Party won 68 of 113 parliamentary seats, giving it its first majority in the assembly long-dominated by the Nationalists.

“I wasn’t surprised a bit by the outcome. The Nationalists had to go. Now Tsai just needs to focus on the economy so I don’t expect she’ll do anything to rile up China,” Taipei tour bus driver Tan Kuang-jung said as a constant drizzle fell over the capital Sunday.     [FULL  STORY]