Keelung City Council Speaker Huang Ching-tai (黃景泰) was released on NT$2 million (US$66,600) bail yesterday, and the Keelung Prosecutors’ Office said it would not appeal the decision again, after the Keelung District Court rejected its third request to detain him.
In its ruling early yesterday, a three-judge panel said the prosecution failed to justify its request by proving that there is real possibility that Huang could flee or tamper with evidence in the corruption investigation against him. Such proof is necessary for pre-charge detention.
Although the prosecution has reason to suspect Huang of having committed a felony, this alone is not enough to justify detaining him, the judges ruled.
They ordered that Huang be released on NT$2 million bail, but said he must continue to reside in Keelung.
This was the third time the district court had granted Huang bail. Its two previous decisions were revoked by the Taiwan High Court after the prosecution filed appeals.
Keelung District Prosecutor Chou Chi-yung (周啟勇) said later in the day that the office would no longer seek to detain Huang to prevent information discovered by investigators being leaked during the appeals process.
Huang, who is the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) candidate for the Keelung mayoral race in the November seven-in-one elections, is alleged to have used his influence to have the city government approve a number of construction projects in return for bribes.
Huang came under suspicion after prosecutors received information that he pressured city officials into allowing a developer to bypass conservation regulations when building a display house.
Prosecutors questioned eight people on Tuesday, including Huang, after nearly NT$5 million in cash was found in Huang’s office that he was unable to account for.
He was released on NT$1.2 million bail on Thursday, but saw his bail increased to NT$2 million following an appeal lodged by prosecutors.
Huang’s legal troubles have created a problem for the KMT, which might have to name an alternate candidate for the November polls.
The party has said it will wait to see how the case develops before a decision is made whether to discipline Huang.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2