The Taiwan High Court yesterday overruled a district court decision that granted bail to KMT legislator Gary Wang (
Amid intense media scrutiny, the Taipei District Court in late August rejected a prosecutors' request to detain Wang.
The Taipei District Prosecutors' Office had charged Wang with forgery and breach of trust in a real estate transaction and released him on bail of NT$15 million. They had requested that Wang be remanded in custody to prevent him from collaborating with other parties to fabricate testimony or destroy evidence.
Prosecutors say Wang, chairman of Far Eastern Silo and Shipping (FESS,
The High Court, having heard the prosecutors' appeal, ruled that the district court had given insufficient weight to the possibility that Wang might conspire with his co-defendant, Chung Ying-feng (
Wang is the eighth person to be charged in the land deal scandal. Others include three TDTC officials, three alleged go-betweens and the landowner from whom FESS bought the property.
In requesting the detention, prosecutors had argued that there was a possibility that Wang would collaborate with Chung, one of the alleged go-betweens who was charged in absentia and remains in hiding.
The prosecution also presented to the court evidence showing suspicious money transfers from Chung to Wang after the land sale.
The district court had found credible Wang's argument that the money he is alleged to have obtained fraudulently was the repayment of a debt by Chung, an old friend of his, and had nothing to do with the land deal.
But the High Court said yesterday that the source of the funds would require further investigation and that Wang's and Chung's testimonies on the money are crucial to discovery of the facts.
On that ground, the High Court found it reasonable for the prosecution to try and prevent collaboration between Wang and Chung.
The case has now been returned to the district court for review. This involves holding a further detention hearing. The judge who heard the initial hearing is debarred from presiding over the second hearing.
Wang is vice chairman of the Rebar Group (
He is a three-term legislator who has served on the legislature's powerful finance committee, and is a major player among Taiwan's cable TV operators.
Meanwhile, KMT legislator You Hwai-yin (
The court found that You covered up the bank's financial woes in 1996 in an attempt to deceive investors while the bank was trying to expand its capital.
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday inaugurated the Danjiang Bridge across the Tamsui River in New Taipei City, saying that the structure would be an architectural icon and traffic artery for Taiwan. Feted as a major engineering achievement, the Danjiang Bridge is 920m long, 211m tall at the top of its pylon, and is the longest single-pylon asymmetric cable-stayed bridge in the world, the government’s Web site for the structure said. It was designed by late Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid. The structure, with a maximum deck of 70m, accommodates road and light rail traffic, and affords a 200m navigation channel for boats,
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest foundry service provider, yesterday said that global semiconductor revenue is projected to hit US$1.5 trillion in 2030, after the figure exceeds US$1 trillion this year, as artificial intelligence (AI) demand boosts consumption of token and compute power. “We are still at the beginning of the AI revolution, but we already see a significant impact across the whole semiconductor ecosystem,” TSMC deputy cochief operating officer Kevin Zhang (張曉強) said at the company’s annual technology symposium in Hsinchu City. “It is fair to say that in the past decade, smartphones and other mobile devices were
US-CHINA SUMMIT: MOFA welcomed US reassurance of no change in its Taiwan policy; Trump said he did not comment when Xi talked of opposing independence US President Donald Trump yesterday said he has not made a decision on whether to move forward with a major arms package for Taiwan after hearing concerns about it from Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Trump’s comments on Taiwan came as he flew back to Washington after wrapping up critical talks in which both leaders said important progress was made in stabilizing US-China relations even as deep differences persist between the world’s two biggest powers on Iran and Taiwan. “I will make a determination,” Trump said, adding: “I’ll be making decisions. But, you know, I think the last thing we need right
TAIWAN ISSUE: US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said on the first day of meetings that ‘it wouldn’t be a US-China summit without the Taiwan issue coming up’ There were no surprises on the first day of the summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday, as the government reiterated that cross-strait stability is crucial to the Asia-Pacific region, as well as the world. As the two presidents met for a highly anticipated summit yesterday, Chinese state media reported that Xi warned Trump that missteps regarding Taiwan could push their two countries into “conflict.” Trump arrived in China with accolades for his host, calling Xi a “great leader” and “friend,” and extending an invitation to visit the White House
RSS