FALSE PRETENSE:The head of a residents’ group said drainage improvements were an unjustified reason for demolitions, asking if a mall would be torn down as well
Taipei Times
Date: Sep 08, 2016
By: Alison Hsiao / Staff reporter
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Arthur Chen (陳宜民) yesterday accused Kaohsiung Mayor
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Arthur Chen yesterday speaks a press conference at the Legislative Yuan, pledging to fight for Kaohsiung residents’ rights in an urban renewal project after Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu filed a lawsuit against him. Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
Chen Chu’s (陳菊) administration of using litigation to deter its critics — such as himself — while the head of a self-help association for residents of the Dagouding (大溝頂) neighborhood, where a city government plan to demolish houses has been thwarted, accused the mayor of unfairly pitting protesters against public interests.
Arthur Chen was taken to court by the city government over his accusations in July that the municipality’s plan to demolish a row of houses in Qishan District (旗山) — called the Taiping Marketplace (太平商場) — as part of efforts to improve a drainage canal was designed to benefit a corporation with ties to relatives of the mayor.
The lawmaker said Chen Chu’s demand that he pay compensation and make a public apology in a newspaper was “an attempt to threaten by lawsuit a democratically elected representative.”
He accused the Kaohsiung City Government of absurdity, as the newspaper apology he was asked to publish was signed “Chiu Yi” (邱毅) instead of “Arthur Chen.” [FULL STORY]
