A Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator proposed amending the Public Functionary Assets Disclosure Law (公職人員財產申報法) yesterday to criminalize falsifying property disclosures in the wake of the money-laundering allegations that have engulfed former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).
DPP Legislator Chai Trong-rong (蔡同榮) told a press conference he would propose that people who conceal property should face a maximum prison sentence of one year.
Officials whose assets increase in a year by more than double their yearly income and who are unable to explain the discrepancy should face a sentence of between one and seven years, he said.
Chai said a stronger Public Functionary Assets Disclosure Law would prevent corruption.
The DPP will also propose a bill governing unclear sources of officials’ property, he said, adding he hoped the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would support the idea.
Deputy Minister of Justice Huang Shih-ming (黃世銘) said on Monday the Ministry of Justice was mapping out measures governing unclear property resources and would submit its proposal to the legislature.
Asked for comment yesterday, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) agreed on the need to amend the Public Functionary Assets Disclosure Law, but stressed the importance of deliberating Chai’s proposal during cross-party negotiation sessions before the legislature finalizes a “reasonable” amendment.
KMT caucus deputy secretary-general Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) said he supported making it a crime for public officials to lie about their assets, but added he believed it was more important to amend the Statute for the Punishment of Corruption (貪污治罪條例) to require officials to explain to a court how he or she could support a luxurious lifestyle on a modest income.
Failure to do so should be considered proof of corruption, Wu said.
Lawmakers have tried to amend the statute before.
In 2006, the People First Party (PFP) caucus tried to do so after the campaign led by former DPP chairman Shih Ming-teh (施明德) to oust Chen from the presidency.
The PFP sought to impose criminal punishment on officials who failed to or refused to explain how they could afford an extravagant lifestyle on their declared income.
The PFP proposal failed because party caucuses could not reach a consensus on the bill, even though it had been waived a first reading.
KMT Legislator John Wu (吳志揚) initiated a similar proposal this spring.
His proposal said any government official who failed to or refused to explain how he or she managed to accumulate wealth could face up to three years in prison and a fine of up to NT$10 million (US$318,000).
The bill went to a preliminary review by the Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee on May 29, but did not clear the legislative floor before the legislature went into recess last month.
KMT caucus secretary-general Chang Sho-wen (張碩文) said on Sunday that the caucus had to put aside Wu’s bill because many budget requests related to living standards needed to be dealt with first.
Also See: Chen scandal hits TAIEX again
Also See: Members of DPP suggest change of name, report says
DEMOGRAPHICS: Robotics is the most promising answer to looming labor woes, the long-term care system and national contingency response, an official said Taiwan is to launch a five-year plan to boost the robotics industry in a bid to address labor shortages stemming from a declining and aging population, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The government approved the initiative, dubbed the Smart Robotics Industry Promotion Plan, via executive order, senior officials told a post-Cabinet meeting news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s population decline would strain the economy and the nation’s ability to care for vulnerable and elderly people, said Peter Hong (洪樂文), who heads the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC) Department of Engineering and Technologies. Projections show that the proportion of Taiwanese 65 or older would
Nvidia Corp yesterday unveiled its new high-speed interconnect technology, NVLink Fusion, with Taiwanese application-specific IC (ASIC) designers Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯) and MediaTek Inc (聯發科) among the first to adopt the technology to help build semi-custom artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure for hyperscalers. Nvidia has opened its technology to outside users, as hyperscalers and cloud service providers are building their own cost-effective AI chips, or accelerators, used in AI servers by leveraging ASIC firms’ designing capabilities to reduce their dependence on Nvidia. Previously, NVLink technology was only available for Nvidia’s own AI platform. “NVLink Fusion opens Nvidia’s AI platform and rich ecosystem for
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said it is building nine new advanced wafer manufacturing and packaging factories this year, accelerating its expansion amid strong demand for high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) applications. The chipmaker built on average five factories per year from 2021 to last year and three from 2017 to 2020, TSMC vice president of advanced technology and mask engineering T.S. Chang (張宗生) said at the company’s annual technology symposium in Hsinchu City. “We are quickening our pace even faster in 2025. We plan to build nine new factories, including eight wafer fabrication plants and one advanced
‘WORLD’S LOSS’: Taiwan’s exclusion robs the world of the benefits it could get from one of the foremost practitioners of disease prevention and public health, Minister Chiu said Taiwan should be allowed to join the World Health Assembly (WHA) as an irreplaceable contributor to global health and disease prevention efforts, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. He made the comment at a news conference in Taipei, hours before a Taiwanese delegation was to depart for Geneva, Switzerland, seeking to meet with foreign representatives for a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the WHA, the WHO’s annual decisionmaking meeting, which would be held from Monday next week to May 27. As of yesterday, Taiwan had yet to receive an invitation. Taiwan has much to offer to the international community’s
RSS