Former Executive Yuan secretary-general Lin Yi-shih (林益世) was released on NT$50 million (US$1.7 million) yesterday afternoon.
Lin, who has been detained by prosecutors since July 2, was granted bail early yesterday by the Taipei District Court following his indictment on corruption-related charges on Thursday, but he was not released immediately because he failed to come up with the required amount at the time.
Lin is accused of demanding and accepting bribes, concealing illegal gains and keeping unaccountable assets, according to the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office Special Investigation Division (SID).
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
Lin’s release sparked an outcry from Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers.
“Taiwan’s judiciary is morally bankrupt,” DPP Legislator Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) said.
DPP Legislator Chao Tien-lin (趙天麟) described it as “iron-clad evidence of political interference in the judicial process.”
Some netizens also reacted to reports that Lin’s family was able to come up with NT$50 million for bail within 20 hours.
“For most people, it would take 100 years to round up that amount,” one netizen commented.
“Has the government gone crazy?” another wrote. “Corrupt people can post money to be released on bail?”
A netizen using the name “ming_ray” said: “No wonder Mr Ma Ying-jeou promised to make people feel good about the economy within one month. Now we have the state coffers earning NT$50 million. This is quite a good, credible promise!”
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾), who has frequently drawn the party’s ire with her comments, said: “The KMT government should not dig its own grave just to protect Lin.”
“The SID should publicly explain the many questions surrounding the case, or else the public will have no confidence in the judiciary,” Lo said.
KMT caucus whip Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇), on the other hand, said that DPP members involved in corruption cases such as Yunlin County Commissioner Su Chih-fen (蘇治芬) and DPP Legislator Chen Ming-wen (陳明文) had also been released upon posting bail, adding that there was no difference in treatment between pan-blue and pan-green politicians.
Lin’s case came to light on June 27 when a local magazine reported that he helped Kaohsiung-based Ti Yung Co (地勇選礦公司地勇選礦公司) to secure a slag treatment contract from a subsidiary of China Steel Corp (CSC, 中鋼) in 2010, when Lin was serving as a KMT legislator.
In return, Ti Yung owner Chen Chi-hsiang (陳啟祥) gave Lin NT$63 million, the indictment read.
The magazine reported that Lin demanded a further NT$83 million from Chen early this year after he was appointed Cabinet secretary-general.
When Chen refused to pay up, Lin allegedly pressured CSC, a listed company in which the government has a controlling stake, to stop supplying slag to Ti Yung.
Lin’s mother, Shen Juo-lan (沈若蘭), who allegedly received the bribe along with Lin, was indicted as another principal offender in the case, according to the indictment.
Lin’s wife, Peng Ai-chia (彭愛佳), and his two maternal uncles — Shen Huan-yao (沈煥瑤) and Shen Huan-chang (沈煥璋) — were charged with money laundering for concealing the bribe on behalf of Lin, the indictment said.
Chen, who gave testimony against Lin as a witness for the prosecutors in the investigation, was under investigation in a separate case by the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ Office.
Additional reporting by Chien Li -chung
Two US House of Representatives committees yesterday condemned China’s attempt to orchestrate a crash involving Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim’s (蕭美琴) car when she visited the Czech Republic last year as vice president-elect. Czech local media in March last year reported that a Chinese diplomat had run a red light while following Hsiao’s car from the airport, and Czech intelligence last week told local media that Chinese diplomats and agents had also planned to stage a demonstrative car collision. Hsiao on Saturday shared a Reuters news report on the incident through her account on social media platform X and wrote: “I
SHIFT PRIORITIES: The US should first help Taiwan respond to actions China is already taking, instead of focusing too heavily on deterring a large-scale invasion, an expert said US Air Force leaders on Thursday voiced concerns about the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) missile capabilities and its development of a “kill web,” and said that the US Department of Defense’s budget request for next year prioritizes bolstering defenses in the Indo-Pacific region due to the increasing threat posed by China. US experts said that a full-scale Chinese invasion of Taiwan is risky and unlikely, with Beijing more likely to pursue coercive tactics such as political warfare or blockades to achieve its goals. Senior air force and US Space Force leaders, including US Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink and
‘BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS’: The US military’s aim is to continue to make any potential Chinese invasion more difficult than it already is, US General Ronald Clark said The likelihood of China invading Taiwan without contest is “very, very small” because the Taiwan Strait is under constant surveillance by multiple countries, a US general has said. General Ronald Clark, commanding officer of US Army Pacific (USARPAC), the US Army’s largest service component command, made the remarks during a dialogue hosted on Friday by Washington-based think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Asked by the event host what the Chinese military has learned from its US counterpart over the years, Clark said that the first lesson is that the skill and will of US service members are “unmatched.” The second
Czech officials have confirmed that Chinese agents surveilled Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) during her visit to Prague in March 2024 and planned a collision with her car as part of an “unprecedented” provocation by Beijing in Europe. Czech Military Intelligence learned that their Chinese counterparts attempted to create conditions to carry out a demonstrative incident involving Hsiao, which “did not go beyond the preparation stage,” agency director Petr Bartovsky told Czech Radio in a report yesterday. In addition, a Chinese diplomat ran a red light to maintain surveillance of the Taiwanese
RSS