Taichung judges yesterday afternoon asked prosecutors to refile their detention request against Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) member Lin Chung-cheng (
Taichung prosecutors filed their request at the Taichung District Court yesterday because they suspect that Lin accepted bribes in return for insider information on the stock market, which he had access to as an FSC member.
However, the request was declined at around 3pm because judges said the request should be filed in Taipei.
"Lin allegedly committed his crime in Taipei, not Taichung," the Taichung District Court explained.
According to Taichung District Prosecutors' Office Spokesman Chang Hung-mo (
Chang did not elaborate on the amount that Lin allegedly accepted.
FSC Chairman Shih Jun-ji (
Regardless of whether Lin is detained or released on bail, the commission would recommend that the Cabinet approve Lin's resignation, Shih said.
Shih said the FSC would review cases in which Lin had been involved if he was found to have acted improperly.
Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said yesterday that the FSC "needs fixing."
"This place [the FSC] is rotten. It needs to be fixed," Su said. "When I appointed Shih Jun-ji as chairman of the FSC, I told him to get the job done and he is trying his best to accomplish that. I will not [remove him from his post] -- that is for sure."
Su made the remarks on the legislative floor.
"If [Lin] is guilty, we will punish him as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Deputy Secretary-General Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) said that DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun would present a proposal at the party's Central Standing Committee meeting today suggesting that Lin be sent to the party's Central Review Committee for punishment. The proposal recommends that Lin be expelled from the party.
Earlier yesterday, Yu told the press that the DPP always applies "the highest standard" to all of its party members.
As to how the party will deal with Lin, Yu said he would leave the decision to the committee. At a press conference held by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers yesterday Lin's case was used to assert that corruption has become “second nature,” in the DPP government.
“Lin, a former legislator-at-large, had represented the DPP for three terms in the Legislature. The DPP has to apologize for its nomination of Lin if the accusations against him are proved correct,” KMT Legislator Hsu Shao-ping(徐少萍) said.
DPP Legislator Kao Jyh-peng (高志鵬) was reported by the Chinese-language < yesterday as saying that recent investigations in connection with financial crimes reflected Premier Su wish to distance himself from President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) who is facing allegations of corruption.
Kao yesterday denied the report and said that what he meant was that “[prosecutors] might be driven by the recent anti-corruption atmosphere to launch such investigations as they think [their superiors] might like that.”
Additional reporting by Flora Wang and Amber Chuang
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft