The Taipei District Court yesterday found former National Security Bureau chief accountant Hsu Ping-chiang (
"If the prosecutor handling the case decides to file for an appeal and take the case to the Taiwan High Court, a second ruling is possible," district court spokesman Huang Jiunn-ming (
Yesterday's verdict received much public attention as several high-profile government officials were involved in the case.
The scandal began with the disappearance in 1994 of US$4.5 million from a secret fund of US$10.58 million for securing diplomatic relations with South Africa. According to prosecutors, the bureau paid the money to South Africa on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in May 1994.
On April 4, 1999, the ministry returned a total of US$10.7 million, including interest, to the bureau. Hsu allegedly asked former chief cashier Liu Kuan-chun (
Liu is himself suspected of embezzling more than NT$192 million (US$5.65 million) from that figure. According to the Bureau of Investigation, he left the country on Sept. 3, 2000, for Shanghai.
He reappeared in Bangkok in January 2002 and then went to North America. Liu is still on the run.
On Nov. 17 last year, the Taipei Prosecutor's Office char-ged Hsu and Liu with corruption and asked the court for a sentence of 15 years for Hsu and 12 years for Liu.
Former China Development Holding Corp chairman Liu Tai-ying (劉泰英), who was president of the Taiwan Research Institute at the time, allegedly wired money to Ruentex Corp chairman Yin Yen-liang's (尹衍樑) bank accounts in the US and Singapore. Yin then allegedly wired the money to one of Ruentex's bank accounts in Taiwan, after which he "donated" US$3 million of it to the Taiwan Research Institute.
On April 14, former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) and Hsu went head-to-head during a closed-door hearing at the Taipei District Court over the secret fund.
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
RSS