Kaohsiung District Court yesterday cleared former Presidential Office deputy secretary-general Chen Che-nan (陳哲男) of corruption relating to the Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp (KRTC) scandal.
"Prosecutors had no way to prove that the hospitality Chen Che-nan received was related to his position. As a result, we decided to drop all the charges against him," said presiding Judge Tseng Yi-cheng (曾逸成), when reading the verdict in court yesterday.
Prosecutors alleged that Chen helped Huapan Co, the firm in charge of hiring and managing Thai laborers working on Kaohsiung's MRT construction project, in return for vacations.
Kaohsiung prosecutors accused Chen of accepting all-expense paid trips to Thailand, Vietnam and South Korea, as well as "entertainment" paid for by the firm in return for his help in winning contracts for the MRT project.
The case came to light after Thai workers rioted on Aug. 21, 2005 in protest over working conditions.
On Nov. 21, 2005, Kaohsiung Prosecutor Ho Chin-tung (
Huapan general manager Yen Shih-hua (嚴世華) and his wife Wang Tsai-pi (王彩碧) were sentenced to 42 months and four years in jail respectively for receiving kickbacks from Thai workers and several Thai labor brokerages.
After the verdict, Kaohsiung District Prosecutors' Office Spokesman Chung Chung-hsiao (鍾忠孝) said that he was not surprised by the outcome.
"Actually, before we even submitted the case to the court, I had a strong feeling that our evidence might not be sufficient to persuade the judges," Chung said.
Prosecutors would meet to discuss whether to appeal after they had read the verdict, he said.
Meanwhile, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Hsu Shao-ping (
She said Chen was also allegedly involved in other cases, and urged prosecutors to conduct thorough investigations into them.
KMT Legislator Joanna Lei (雷倩), who was also at the conference, said the ruling was surprising because prosecutors had submitted "clear evidence" against Chen.
Lei said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh's campaign team should avoiding gloating because the verdict did not necessarily clear Hsieh of his alleged involvement in cases related to the KRTC scandal.
When asked for comment, DPP caucus deputy secretary-general Wang Shu-hui (
Wang said the evidence against Chen was "weak," adding that prosecutors had only sought a severe punishment because Chen was former deputy secretary-general of the Presidential Office.
Additional reporting Flora Wang
Conflict with Taiwan could leave China with “massive economic disruption, catastrophic military losses, significant social unrest, and devastating sanctions,” a US think tank said in a report released on Monday. The German Marshall Fund released a report titled If China Attacks Taiwan: The Consequences for China of “Minor Conflict” and “Major War” Scenarios. The report details the “massive” economic, military, social and international costs to China in the event of a minor conflict or major war with Taiwan, estimating that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could sustain losses of more than half of its active-duty ground forces, including 100,000 troops. Understanding Chinese
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday said it is closely monitoring developments in Venezuela, and would continue to cooperate with democratic allies and work together for regional and global security, stability, and prosperity. The remarks came after the US on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who was later flown to New York along with his wife. The pair face US charges related to drug trafficking and alleged cooperation with gangs designated as terrorist organizations. Maduro has denied the allegations. The ministry said that it is closely monitoring the political and economic situation
UNRELENTING: China attempted cyberattacks on Taiwan’s critical infrastructure 2.63 million times per day last year, up from 1.23 million in 2023, the NSB said China’s cyberarmy has long engaged in cyberattacks against Taiwan’s critical infrastructure, employing diverse and evolving tactics, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday, adding that cyberattacks on critical energy infrastructure last year increased 10-fold compared with the previous year. The NSB yesterday released a report titled Analysis on China’s Cyber Threats to Taiwan’s Critical Infrastructure in 2025, outlining the number of cyberattacks, major tactics and hacker groups. Taiwan’s national intelligence community identified a large number of cybersecurity incidents last year, the bureau said in a statement. China’s cyberarmy last year launched an average of 2.63 million intrusion attempts per day targeting Taiwan’s critical
‘SLICING METHOD’: In the event of a blockade, the China Coast Guard would intercept Taiwanese ships while its navy would seek to deter foreign intervention China’s military drills around Taiwan this week signaled potential strategies to cut the nation off from energy supplies and foreign military assistance, a US think tank report said. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted what it called “Justice Mission 2025” exercises from Monday to Tuesday in five maritime zones and airspace around Taiwan, calling them a warning to “Taiwanese independence” forces. In a report released on Wednesday, the Institute for the Study of War said the exercises effectively simulated blocking shipping routes to major port cities, including Kaohsiung, Keelung and Hualien. Taiwan would be highly vulnerable under such a blockade, because it
RSS