Thanks, ICRT!

... for providing today's big news item.

The DPP presidential ticket's camp is blasting the sister of the KMT candidate for allegedly campaigning for him in China. According to a magazine report [in Next], Ma Yi-nan, the elder sister of Ma Ying-jiu, was in China recently, where she met with a prominent gang member to get funds for her brother's campaign. The DPP ticket is calling Ma Yi-nan a secret envoy to the mainland for her brother, and says the Beijing government is facilitating her movements and meetings in an attempt to influence the Taiwanese presidential election. The green camp says the Ma family is highly secretive, and recent events involving family members have shown that the Mas are not as clean cut as they appear.

I love how people are perfectly willing to see Next as a credible news source ... when it works to their advantage. But, Ma does not deny that his sister met with the gangster, claiming ignorance, and Ma says he'll tell her to "be careful" in the future!

The gangster, Chang An-le (張安樂), also known as "the white wolf," and a current/former member of the United Bamboo Gang, is hiding in China because the police are looking for him here in Taiwan. He's certainly the most famous ganster I know of. If you were a Taiwanese businessman in his neighborhood and were told he would really appreciate your vote for Ma /dislike your vote for Hsieh, I guess it could affect your voting plans ...