Nantou prosecutors yesterday indicted Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Gao Jyh-peng (高志鵬) on suspicion of accepting bribes from a businessman in exchange for lobbying for him.
Nantou prosecutors charged Gao with corruption and requested the Nantou District Court sentence Gao to nine years in prison.
"Gao disappointed his supporters and did not admit to his crimes during the investigation, so prosecutors requested the court give him a heavy sentence," Nantou District Prosecutor's Office spokesman Wu Tso-yan (
Yao Sheng-chih (
Wu said Yao received NT$2 million (US$60,000) in April from construction company boss Chen Chao-hsiung (
Wu said Gao was suspected of receiving NT$500,000 from the NT$2 million.
Wu added that on June 29 and July 16 Gao summoned NPA director Kuo Wu-po (
However, prosecutors said the NPA did not agree to rent the land to Chen's company because its proposal to not meet the bid requirements.
Wu said Chen had agreed to pay Gao another NT$8 million if his bid was successful, but Gao did not receive the money.
Gao issued a statement last night saying Yao should not have turned against him.
He said he could not accept the indictment and insisted he was innocent.
Other than expressing disappointment, Gao said that he would not comment on the indictment because he has yet to receive it. He said he would release another statement after he received the indictment.
DPP Legislator Hsieh Hsin-ni (
Additional reporting by Jimmy Chuang and Ko Shu-ling
SOLIDARITY: A group of European lawmakers condemned China’s aggressive moves, while the foreign minister of Lithuania said Taiwan ‘cannot become a second Ukraine’ A German parliamentary delegation would visit Taiwan in the first week of October, German lawmaker Holger Becker on Monday told visiting Democratic Progressive Party legislators Fan Yun (范雲) and Lin I-chin (林宜瑾) at the Bundestag in Berlin. Asked by Fan whether he is worried about possible reprisals from Beijing, such as banning him and his family from entering China, Becker said he is more interested in visiting Taiwan, as “now is the time for democracies to stand together.” Fan and Lin also met with German officials to exchange views on digital education and governance. Investing in digital infrastructure and protecting equal rights to
ANNEXATION PLANS: Remarks by the Chinese ambassador to France showed that Beijing seeks to normalize genocide, re-education and gulags, a US official said European and US officials condemned comments from Chinese Ambassador to France Lu Shaye (盧沙野), after he on Wednesday said that Taiwanese would be “re-educated” after any annexation by China. In an interview on French television, Lu accused the Democratic Progressive Party of “extremist” propaganda and turning Taiwanese against “reunification” with China. “We will re-educate. I’m sure that the Taiwanese population will again become favorable of the reunification and will become patriots again,” Lu told BFM TV. The term “re-education” has been used to describe Chinese authorities’ treatment of Uighurs and other Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang. European Parliament Subcommittee on Security and Defense Chairwoman
‘SIMULATED ATTACKS’: Ten warships each from China and Taiwan were maneuvering at close quarters in the Taiwan Strait, with some Chinese vessels crossing the median line Taiwan yesterday reiterated that it would not succumb to pressure from Beijing after China carried out its most provocative military drills in decades in retaliation for US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan last week. “We will never bow to pressure. We uphold freedom and democracy, and believe Taiwanese disapprove [of] China’s bullying actions with force and saber rattling at our door,” Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said yesterday. China had “arrogantly” disrupted regional peace and stability, he said, calling on Beijing to not flex its military muscles. President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has also called on the international community to “support
As China waged extensive military exercises off Taiwan, a group of US defense experts in Washington was focused on their own simulation of an eventual — but for now entirely hypothetical — US-China war over the nation. The unofficial what-if game is being conducted on the fifth floor of an office building not far from the White House, and it posits a US military response to a Chinese invasion in 2026. Even though the participants bring a US perspective, they are finding that a US-Taiwan victory, if there is one, could come at a huge cost. “The results are showing that under
RSS