The Taipei District Court yesterday released the president's son-in-law, Chao Chien-ming (趙建銘), on NT$17 million bail (US$518,900) after the Taiwan High Court asked it to review its decision to grant bail to Chao.
On Monday, the high court asked the Taipei District Court to review its decision last week to grant bail to Chao, along with former Taiwan Development Corp (TDC) chairman Su Teh-jien (蘇德建) and businessman Yu Shih-yi (游世一).
Chao's wife, Chen Hsing-yu (陳幸妤), attended yesterday's hearing, making her first public appearance since giving birth to their third son earlier this month.
PHOTOS: WANG MIN-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES
Prosecutors said they were concerned that Chao might flee the country to avoid trial since he had booked a flight to Japan last month after the scandal broke and a few suspects have been summoned for questioning.
Yesterday morning Chen Hsing-yu issued a statement saying "the plan to take a trip to Japan was my idea, not Chao's. I was annoyed about the media reports saying my mother [first lady Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍)] was involved in the Sogo Department ownership struggle, so I decided to travel abroad with my husband."
She added that Chao had never planned to flee the country.
Prosecutors had hoped the three defendants would be ordered into custody again, but if the judges decided to let them remain then at least the amounts of their bonds would be increased.
The hearing began at 4pm and lasted about two hours. At 7pm, the judges decided to allow Chao to remain free, but increased his bond by NT$17 million.
They did not raise the bail for Yu or Su. Yu was freed last week on NT$10 million bail, while Su's was NT$5 million.
Chao was indicted a week ago Monday -- along with his father, Chao Yu-chu (趙玉柱), and three others -- for violating the Securities Transaction Law (證券交易法).
The scandal dates back to last summer, when Su and Chang Hwa Commercial Bank officials dined on two occasions with Chao Chien-ming and Yu at a Japanese restaurant in Taipei. Prosecutors believe they discussed confidential information about TDC.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
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
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
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS