Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (
Hsieh made the remarks after the Special Investigation Section (SIS) under the Supreme Court Prosecutors' Office told reporters yesterday that he was a defendant in the Yu Huang Temple (
The Yu Huang Temple bribery allegations first came to light in 2002 when Hsieh was Kaohsiung mayor.
PHOTO: CNA
Hsieh was accused of accepting NT$2.8 million (US$84,848) from Hsu Wen-liang (
The Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday reported that the SIS had reopened the investigation and decided to list Hsieh as a defendant "because prosecutors had discovered a lot of new evidence, which may impact on Hsieh's presidential campaign."
Rebutting the report, SIS spokesman Chen Yun-nan (陳雲南) told the press that "[Hsieh] has been a defendant in this case since the start, when the case was still in the hands of Kaohsiung prosecutors."
He added that "what you read in the newspapers may not necessarily be accurate."
Chen said that what prosecutors are working on had nothing to do with Hsieh's presidential campaign activities.
"We will do what we are supposed to do. Whether or not this will impact on his [Hsieh's] presidential campaign is not our concern," Chen said.
DPP Legislator Hsu Kuo-yung (
In his defense, Hsieh told the media yesterday that his support group had received the donation from the temple in Kaohsiung's Samin District, in 2003 but later returned the money to the temple because it feared the donation might be "controversial."
The temple later insisted on giving the money back to his support group, Hsieh said, so he decided to spend the money on buying two ambulances -- Yu Huang 1 and Yu Huang 2, which remain in use in Kaohsiung.
"It is my understanding that former Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] chairman Lien Chan (
He added that "unlike me, they did not attempt to return the money."
"This is an old case. If I were guilty, I would have been put away behind bars already," Hsieh said. "Trust me. I will be fine."
Additional reporting by Flora Wang
RESILIENCE: Deepening bilateral cooperation would extend the peace sustained over the 45 years since the Taiwan Relations Act, Greene said Taiwan-US relations are built on deep economic ties and shared values, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Raymond Greene said yesterday, adding that strengthening supply chain security in critical industries, enhancing societal resilience through cooperation and deepening partnerships are key to ensuring peace and stability for Taiwan in the years ahead. Greene made the remarks at the National Security Youth Forum, organized by National Taiwan University’s National Security and Strategy Studies Institution in Taipei. In his address in Mandarin Chinese, Greene said the Taiwan-US relationship is built on deep economic ties and shared interests, and grows stronger through the enduring friendship between
GAINING STEAM: The scheme initially failed to gather much attention, with only 188 cards issued in its first year, but gained popularity amid the COVID-19 pandemic Applications for the Employment Gold Card have increased in the past few years, with the card having been issued to a total of 13,191 people from 101 countries since its introduction in 2018, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday. Those who have received the card have included celebrities, such as former NBA star Dwight Howard and Australian-South Korean cheerleader Dahye Lee, the NDC said. The four-in-one Employment Gold Card combines a work permit, resident visa, Alien Resident Certificate (ARC) and re-entry permit. It was first introduced in February 2018 through the Act Governing Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及雇用法),
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday said that it would redesign the written portion of the driver’s license exam to make it more rigorous. “We hope that the exam can assess drivers’ understanding of traffic rules, particularly those who take the driver’s license test for the first time. In the past, drivers only needed to cram a book of test questions to pass the written exam,” Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) told a news conference at the Taoyuan Motor Vehicle Office. “In the future, they would not be able to pass the test unless they study traffic regulations
‘COMING MENACINGLY’: The CDC advised wearing a mask when visiting hospitals or long-term care centers, on public transportation and in crowded indoor venues Hospital visits for COVID-19 last week increased by 113 percent to 41,402, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, as it encouraged people to wear a mask in three public settings to prevent infection. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said weekly hospital visits for COVID-19 have been increasing for seven consecutive weeks, and 102 severe COVID-19 cases and 19 deaths were confirmed last week, both the highest weekly numbers this year. CDC physician Lee Tsung-han (李宗翰) said the youngest person hospitalized due to the disease this year was reported last week, a one-month-old baby, who does not