Taipei District Court judges yesterday found former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Diane Lee (李慶安) guilty of fraud and forgery over her possession of dual citizenship and sentenced her to two years in prison.
Lee was convicted of four counts of fraud in connection to her US citizenship. An original four-year sentence was commuted to two years.
Public officials are not allowed to hold dual citizenship. Lee has claimed she mistakenly believed that her US citizenship would automatically become invalid upon taking up a public position.
The judges dismissed the explanation, saying that if Lee had been unclear on the rules, she would not have called on former Taipei deputy mayor Chen Shih-meng (陳師孟) to step down in 1994 when she questioned his status on the same issue.
Lee did not appear in court to hear the judgment, but issued a statement declaring her innocence and saying the salary she earned during her terms as legislator and Taipei City councilor were not illegal. Lee said she would appeal.
In January last year, the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office received confirmation from the US State Department that Lee’s US citizenship remained valid.
Prosecutors said that on personnel forms she filled out as a Taipei City councilor in 1994 and during her three terms as a lawmaker starting in 1998, Lee deliberately left blank the field asking whether she held citizenship from any country other than the Republic of China.
Prosecutors say that the more than NT$100 million (US$3 million) in income Lee earned during her terms as councilor and lawmaker were gained illegally.
Deputy Minister of the Interior Chien Tai-lang (簡太郎) yesterday said investigating the salary that Lee received as a city councilor was a matter for the Taipei City Council and the ministry. The criminal court proceedings against Lee are separate from any civil action concerning her salary.
Legislative Yuan Secretary-General Lin Hsi-shan (林錫山) said Lee was entitled to appeal and therefore the legislature shouldn’t take action on her salary as a legislator before a final judgment. Once it is final, they may pursue the matter, Lin said.
Lee resigned from the KMT in December 2008 and gave up her legislative seat last year.
Asked for comment yesterday, KMT caucus chief deputy secretary-general Lin Tsang-min (林滄敏) said Lee had shown some “negligence” during her time serving the public.
Lin said Lee should accept the ruling and the judgment should serve as a warning to all government officials reminding them to respect the law.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said the judgment showed that the KMT had been lying for Lee all along.
“I don’t want to kick a horse when it’s down, but the judgment shows that the DPP was right in accusing Lee of having dual citizenship. The KMT is obliged to apologize and explain why it helped Lee conceal the truth,” DPP Legislator Pan Meng-an (潘孟安) said.
DPP Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) called the judgment “delayed justice” and said the KMT should apologize for dragging out the case.
Additional reporting by Flora Wang,
Jenny W. Hsu and Staff Writer
NETWORK-MAPPING PROJECT: The database contains 170 detailed files of Taiwanese politicians and about 23 million records of household registration data in Taiwan China has developed a network-mapping project targeting political figures and parties in Taiwan to monitor public opinion during elections and to craft tailored influence campaigns aimed at dividing Taiwanese society, according to documents leaked by Chinese technology firm GoLaxy (中科天璣). The documents, collected by Taipei-based Doublethink Lab, showed a database was specifically created to gather detailed information on Taiwanese political figures, including their political affiliations, job histories, birthplaces, residences, education, religion and a brief biography about them. Several notable Taiwanese politicians are in the database, including President William Lai (賴清德), former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍),
RECOGNITION: Former Fijian prime minister Mahendra Chaudhry said that Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy serves as a stabilizing force in the Indo-Pacific region Taiwan can lead the unification of the Chinese people, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former Polish president Lech Walesa said in Taipei yesterday, adding that as the world order is changing, peaceful discussion would find good solutions, and that the use of force and coercion would always fail. Walesa made the remarks during his keynote address at a luncheon of the Yushan Forum in Taipei, titled “Indo-Pacific Partnership Prospects: Taiwan’s Values, Technology and Resilience,” organized by the Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Walesa said that he had been at the forefront of a big peaceful revolution and “if
North Korea tested nuclear-capable rocket launchers, state media reported yesterday, a day after Seoul detected the launch of about 10 ballistic missiles. The test comes after South Korean and US forces launched their springtime military drills, due to run until Thursday. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Saturday oversaw the testing of the multiple rocket launcher system (MRLS), the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. The test involved 12 600mm-caliber ultra-precision multiple rocket launchers and two artillery companies, it said. Kim said the drill gave Pyongyang’s enemies, within the 420km striking range, a sense of “uneasiness” and “a deep understanding
North Korea yesterday fired about 10 ballistic missiles to the sea toward Japan, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, days after Pyongyang warned of “terrible consequences” over ongoing South Korea-US military drills. Pyongyang recently dashed hopes of a diplomatic thaw with Seoul, Washington’s security ally, describing its latest peace efforts as a “clumsy, deceptive farce.” Seoul’s military detected “around 10 ballistic missiles launched from the Sunan area in North Korea toward the East Sea [Sea of Japan] at around 1:20pm,” JCS said in a statement, referring to South Korea’s name for the body of water. The missiles
RSS