The Agency Against Corruption asked state-owned Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) to provide more than NT$1 million (US$33,000) in funding for a running event, despite Taipower being under investigation over irregular procurements, a legislator alleged yesterday.
Taiwan Solidarity Union Legislator Huang Wen-ling (黃文玲) told reporters that the agency launched a probe in May into procurements relating to the construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in Gongliao District (貢寮), New Taipei City (新北市). Several Taipower officials were released on bail following a search of company offices.
Huang said the agency had planned to celebrate its first anniversary by hosting a running event on Saturday, but last week it postponed the event in light of a corruption scandal involving former Executive Yuan secretary-general Lin Yi-shih (林益世).
Huang said that although the event was postponed, she found the agency was still running event ads showing Taipower and Taiwan Tobacco & Liquor Co (台灣菸酒公司) were sponsors of the event.
According to expenditure documents for the event, the agency was expecting to spend NT$2.38 million, with the agency and the Ministry of Economic Affairs each paying half of the money, or about NT$1.19 million, Huang said.
Huang said the ministry had approved a plan by Taipower to provide the NT$1.19 million.
Huang asked how the target of an investigation could become a sponsor for the agency, adding that the agency could have decided to go easy in its probe of Taipower because of the relationship.
Agency Against Corruption Deputy Head Yang Shih-chin (楊石金) said yesterday that the agency had discussed hosting the running event with the ministry in January and agreed that each would cover half of the expenditure.
Yang said the agency only launched its probe against Taipower in May, adding that the agency was currently looking into two cases involving Taipower and that it would definitely not go easy on the company if wrongdoing were uncovered.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-Wong tomorrow, which it said would possibly make landfall near central Taiwan. As of 2am yesterday, Fung-Wong was about 1,760km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving west-northwest at 26kph. It is forecast to reach Luzon in the northern Philippines by tomorrow, the CWA said. After entering the South China Sea, Typhoon Fung-Wong is likely to turn northward toward Taiwan, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said, adding that it would likely make landfall near central Taiwan. The CWA expects to issue a land
Taiwan’s exports soared to an all-time high of US$61.8 billion last month, surging 49.7 percent from a year earlier, as the global frenzy for artificial intelligence (AI) applications and new consumer electronics powered shipments of high-tech goods, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. It was the first time exports had exceeded the US$60 billion mark, fueled by the global boom in AI development that has significantly boosted Taiwanese companies across the international supply chain, Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) told a media briefing. “There is a consensus among major AI players that the upcycle is still in its early stage,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it is expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong this afternoon and a land warning tomorrow. As of 1pm, the storm was about 1,070km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, and was moving west-northwest at 28 to 32kph, according to CWA data. The storm had a radius of 250km, with maximum sustained winds of 173kph and gusts reaching 209kph, the CWA added. The storm is forecast to pass near Luzon in the Philippines before entering the South China Sea and potentially turning northward toward Taiwan, the CWA said. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said
PREPARATION: Ferry lines and flights were canceled ahead of only the second storm to hit the nation in November, while many areas canceled classes and work Authorities yesterday evacuated more than 3,000 people ahead of approaching Tropical Storm Fung-wong, which is expected to make landfall between Kaohsiung and Pingtung County this evening. Fung-wong was yesterday morning downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical storm as it approached the nation’s southwest coast, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, as it issued a land alert for the storm. The alert applies to residents in Tainan, Kaohsiung, Pingtung and Taitung counties, and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春). As of press time last night, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Yilan, Miaoli, Changhua, Yunlin, Pingtung and Penghu counties, as well as Chiayi city and county had
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