Taiwan's chief lawmaker denies lobbying accusation

Wang Jin-pyng, head of Taiwan's legislative body, denied lobbying accusations on Tuesday, saying that he "would not accept an illegal accusation."

Wang, a seasoned politician of the ruling Kuomintang Party (KMT) in Taiwan, read a statement upon his arrival at the island's Taoyuan Airport after traveling abroad.

He is suspected of lobbying then-head of Taiwan's justice authority on behalf of a lawmaker from the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

Wang also warned the KMT disciplinary body not to duplicate the errors of some previous cases in which investigators made subjective and partial decisions.

The KMT will hold a disciplinary meeting on Wednesday to deliberate Wang's case and possible punishment.

Four days ago, investigators from Taiwan's procuratorial agency revealed that Wang was suspected of lobbying Tseng Yung-fu, head of the island's justice authority at the time, for prosecutors not appealing in a case involving senior DPP lawmaker Ker Chien-ming so that Ker could be acquitted.

Tseng resigned after the scandal.

Wang was in Malaysia to organize his daughter's wedding ceremony when the scandal broke, and he failed to respond immediately to the case.

Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou on Sunday harshly criticized Wang's case at a press conference, saying that it is "the most serious case of violation of judicial independence" and told Wang to return to Taiwan as soon as possible.

Wang said in his statement that he did call Tseng and Taiwan's chief prosecutor, but the calls were only made to remind the law enforcers to pay attention to legislative body decisions on efforts to curb abuse of prosecutors' powers to appeal.

He also questioned the investigators' practices, which revealed information collected through wiretapping methods.

In his statement, Wang said he is a KMT member and has always supported the party through years of difficulty.

He warned that a partial conviction may jeopardize party unity or even cause the party to fall apart, which may eventually lead to the party's loss of governance advantages.