Politics

Wang vows to move out of controversial housing

‘HIGHER MORAL STANDARD’:Wang said she did nothing wrong, but must live up to expectations, while a woman denied Wang cheated her husband in a land deal

Taipei Times
Date: Nov 27, 2015
By: Stacy Hsu  /  Staff reporter

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) vice presidential candidate Jennifer Wang (王如

The wife of a landowner surnamed Hsiao speaks to reporters yesterday in Miaoli County’s Nanjhuang Township concerning allegations that Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) vice presidential candidate Jennifer Wang forced Hsiao to buy back a hillside plot of land he previously sold to Wang. Photo: CNA

The wife of a landowner surnamed Hsiao speaks to reporters yesterday in Miaoli County’s Nanjhuang Township concerning allegations that Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) vice presidential candidate Jennifer Wang forced Hsiao to buy back a hillside plot of land he previously sold to Wang. Photo: CNA

玄) yesterday pledged to move out of the government dormitory in which she and her husband have been living for a decade as soon as possible, as the controversy surrounding her real-estate dealings continues to snowball.

“The faculty dormitory we have been living in was applied for in accordance with the regulations and our residence there is legal,” Wang told reporters yesterday morning.

As a human-rights attorney, Wang said her decisions are based on legal reasoning, but that she understood a vice presidential candidate would be subjected to a higher moral standard.     [FULL  STORY]

Chu’s personal wealth worth billions: reports

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-11-25
By: Ko Lin, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Kuomintang presidential candidate Eric Chu and his wife together currently

Chu’s personal wealth worth billions. Central News Agency

Chu’s personal wealth worth billions. Central News Agency

possess 14 land rights, three real estate properties, NT$73.85 million-worth of securities, and NT$69.10 million in cash deposits, according to the Chinese-language Apple Daily Wednesday.

Chu declared his assets with the Central Election Commission (CEC) in the morning after registering his presidential candidacy for the January 16 election, reports said.

Besides the 14 land rights Chu owns across the greater Taipei metropolitan area, Taoyuan, and Tainan, his personal valuables include five luxury watches worth NT$900,000, and NT$28.94 million-worth of market shares.

Comparing to the property statement he declared last year, Chu’s assets remained roughly the same, but his cash deposits increased significantly, from the previous NT$25.67 million to the current NT$69.10 million, according to the Apple Daily report.     [FULL  STORY]

KMT VP choice rejects housing allegations

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-11-24
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Kuomintang vice-presidential candidate Jennifer Wang on

KMT VP choice rejects housing allegations. Central News Agency

KMT VP choice rejects housing allegations. Central News Agency

Tuesday rejected allegations that she not only profited from buying and selling military apartments, but that she also lived at a low-rent dwelling for civil servants.

Since being officially selected last week as KMT Chairman Eric Liluan Chu’s running mate for the January 16 election, the former labor minister has faced a barrage of accusations, not only about her record while in office, but also about her forays into real estate.

The latest media report accused her of having to spend only NT$600 (US$18) a month on a property labeled as a “dormitory for civil servants,” but she retorted Tuesday that it cost NT$10,000 (US$306) a month, while she had also spent considerable amounts repairing and restoring the place. Her husband is a department chief at the Judicial Yuan, allowing them to live on government property.     [FULL  STORY]

Soong first to register for presidential election

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-11-24
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – People First Party Chairman James Soong turned up at

Soong first to register for presidential election. Central News Agency

Soong first to register for presidential election. Central News Agency

the Central Election Commission Tuesday with his running mate Minkuotang Chairwoman Hsu Hsin-ying to become the first set of candidates to register for the January 16 presidential election.

While coming close to winning the 2000 presidential election, most recent opinion polls put his present level of support at around or just under 10 percent. He announced the choice of Hsu, a former Kuomintang lawmaker who only founded her party months ago, last week.

Both turned up together with a group of supporters from the two parties in order to register.     [FULL  STORY]

KMT’s Jennifer Wang to reveal assets

NOTHING TO HIDE:KMT presidential candidate Eric Chu’s running mate said her housing transactions were all legal and above board and that she could prove it

Taipei Times
Date:  Nov 25, 2015
By: Stacy Hsu  /  Staff reporter

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) vice presidential candidate Jennifer Wang (王如

Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Yeh Yi-jin holds a news conference at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday, calling on Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) vice presidential candidate Jennifer Wang to apologize for her alleged speculation in military housing units. Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times

Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Yeh Yi-jin holds a news conference at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday, calling on Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) vice presidential candidate Jennifer Wang to apologize for her alleged speculation in military housing units. Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times

玄) yesterday said that she would make public a list of assets and properties owned by her and her husband today, in an apparent attempt to assuage controversy over military housing units.

“All of the assets currently or previously registered under my or my husband’s name since the 2004 implementation of the sunshine laws are to be laid out for public scrutiny,” Wang said during a visit to the National Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall to pay homage to Republic of China (ROC) founding father Sun Yat-sen (孫中山).

Wang said she has never lied about the issue and that the list would back her claims.

Wang made the remarks amid accusations by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tuan Yi-kang (段宜康) that the former Council of Labor Affairs minister has profited handsomely from speculative purchases of housing units transformed from old quarters for military dependents.

Protesters slam Jennifer Wang over labor record

‘LIKE A SHADOW’:Female workers affected by job losses have said they will follow Jennifer Wang on her campaign trail until they are granted pensions and severance pay

Taipei Times
Date:  Nov 24, 2015
By: Abraham Gerber  /  Staff reporter

Labor activists yesterday confronted Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) vice

Demonstrators scuffle with police outside the Taipei City Election Commission yesterday as Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) vice-presidential candidate and former Council of Labor Affairs minister Jennifer Wang accompanied the party’s legislative candidates to register their candidacy. The demonstrators were protesting Wang’s role in the lawsuit against laid-off workers. Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times

Demonstrators scuffle with police outside the Taipei City Election Commission yesterday as Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) vice-presidential candidate and former Council of Labor Affairs minister Jennifer Wang accompanied the party’s legislative candidates to register their candidacy. The demonstrators were protesting Wang’s role in the lawsuit against laid-off workers. Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times

presidential candidate Jennifer Wang (王如玄) over her labor-rights record following a campaign event, clashing with police as they attempted to force a response to their demands by blocking her path.

About 20 members of the Taiwan International Workers’ Association and related labor groups who were protesting outside the Taipei City Election Commission rushed to stop Wang after she attempted to exit quietly through a side door.

Susan Chen (陳素香) — a middle-aged female protester — ended up prostate on the ground during the melee which ensued as demonstrators pressed against police who had formed a circle around Wang, with protesters saying Chen was pushed to the ground by a police officer while she was trying to block the door of Wang’s car.

Protesters shouted for Wang to “face” laid-off female workers who she sued during her tenure as Council of Labor Affairs Minister, accusing her of only caring about votes — not workers’ interests.     [FULL  STORY]

This is your military-standard pillow 國軍規格的枕頭

Taipei Times
Date: November 24, 2015

Green Party Taiwan Taoyuan City Councilor Xavier Wang has posted a picture of a

A picture of a filthy military pillow is pictured in an undated photyo on Taoyuan City Councilor Xavier Wang’s Facebook. 桃園市議員王浩宇在臉書貼出的國軍髒枕頭的照片。 桃園市議員王浩宇在臉書貼出的國軍髒枕頭的照。 Photo from Xavier Wang’s Facebook profile 照片取材自王浩宇臉書

A picture of a filthy military pillow is pictured in an undated photyo on Taoyuan City Councilor Xavier Wang’s Facebook.
桃園市議員王浩宇在臉書貼出的國軍髒枕頭的照片。
桃園市議員王浩宇在臉書貼出的國軍髒枕頭的照。
Photo from Xavier Wang’s Facebook profile
照片取材自王浩宇臉書

dirty pillow on Facebook, saying that it was a military pillow shot by a friend of his when he was serving his short-term reserve training duty at the Armor Training Command And Armor School in Hsinchu County’s Hukou Township. The picture has provoked heated discussions among netizens. Having just offered help in a case involving Jian Chih-lung, a rookie soldier in a military police training center in Taoyuan who was infected with Leptospirosis and died as a result of sepsis, Wang asked, “How can rookie soldiers avoid getting sick in an environments of this sanitary standard? What’s the matter with the military?”

A netizen commented that, “when I did my military service in the past it was this filthy.” Others said that, “Items for the short-term reserve training are kept for years in a warehouse” and that “Filthy is normal. If they give you brand new stuff, then something really is wrong.” Someone else asked, “Do you expect to be welcome as if you were at a five star hotel? You are here to fulfill your military duty, not to take a vacation.” However, one also said, “Pathetic. So many people take it for granted and think that it is normal for soldiers to use filthy and defective things.” They think the public should stop regarding abnormalities as the normal state of affairs and stop taking unreasonable things for granted if they want the military to make improvements.     [FULL  STORY]

Wang registers candidacy at CEC amid massive protests

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-11-23
By: Ko Lin, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Former Council of Labor Affairs minister Jennifer Wang was met with massive

Wang registers candidacy at CEC amid protests. Central News Agency

Wang registers candidacy at CEC amid protests. Central News Agency

protests from labor activists as she made her way to the Central Election Commission to register her name as Kuomintang presidential candidate Eric Chu’s running mate, reports said Monday.

“Come out and face us!” a female member of the National Alliance for Workers of Closed Factories shouted outside the CEC building, criticizing Wang for not standing up for the nation’s female laborers.

Wang had previously hired a large team of lawyers and budgeted more than NT$25 million to file lawsuits against workers, while making controversial comments, including one about the reasonableness of a NT$22,000 monthly salary.     [FULL  STORY]

Politicians’ son caught in scuffle with cameraman

Taipei Times
Date:  Nov 24, 2015
By: Stacy Hsu  /  Staff reporter

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chang Ching-chung (張慶忠) yesterday

Chang Chun-yung, center, reacts as he is caught on camera as he is trying to snatch a camera from CtiTV cameraman Kuo Hsien-yang at the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) 121st anniversary celebration in New Taipei City’s Banciao District on Sunday. Photo: Yu Heng, Taipei Times

Chang Chun-yung, center, reacts as he is caught on camera as he is trying to snatch a camera from CtiTV cameraman Kuo Hsien-yang at the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) 121st anniversary celebration in New Taipei City’s Banciao District on Sunday. Photo: Yu Heng, Taipei Times

said that a man caught on camera beating a television news cameraman at the KMT’s 121st anniversary celebration on Sunday afternoon was his youngest son.

Chang told the Chinese-language Apple Daily that it was his third son, Chang Chun-yung (張鈞詠), who was seen assaulting CtiTV cameraman Kuo Hsien-yang (郭先揚) at the event in New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋).

Chang said it was the first time his son had attended such an event.

“My wife [KMT New Taipei City Councilor Chen Ching-ting (陳錦錠)] will take care of the matter and she is very sorry about this,” he said.     [FULL  STORY]

Tsai vows to seek immediate reform after legislative majority

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-11-22
By: Ko Lin, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

The Democratic Progressive Party vows to seek reform if it wins a majority in the

Tsai vows to seek reform. Central News Agency

Tsai vows to seek reform. Central News Agency

legislature next January, the party’s presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen said late Saturday evening.

Tsai assured supporters during a campaign rally in Pingtung that she will move straight ahead with her proposed reforms on February 1 after the transition of legislative power on January 16.

“It is time to stand united,” she said, appealing to the public for support as the party has never won a legislative seat in Pingtung before.

Tsai received a warm welcome from a cheering crowd at the party’s electoral office in southern Taiwan, accompanied by DPP legislative candidates Chung Chia-pin, Su Chen-ching and Chuang Ruei-hsiung.     [FULL  STORY]