Allegations that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) received a NT$200 million (US$6.2 million) off-the-books political donation from Ting Hsin International Group (頂新集團) made by media personality Clara Chou (周玉蔻) are being investigated by the Special Investigation Division (SID) of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, while Ma said yesterday that he was suing Chou in an individual capacity to defend the dignity of the head of state.
Chou has cited anonymous sources at the National Security Council that said the “Ma administration” — which she said referred to Ma himself — had privately accepted a NT$200 million political donation, severely tarnishing the image of the Ma administration as honest.
Chou said that Senhwa Biosciences (生華生物科技) chairman Benny Hu (胡定吾) was a key person in the process and the relationship between Hu, Ma and Ting Hsin had caused the Ma administration to cover up for Ting Hsin during food safety scandals earlier this year.
Photo: Pan Shao-tang, Taipei Times
SID Director Kuo Wen-tung (郭文東) said the division has assigned Prosecutor Lin Cheng-tsung (林承宗) to head the investigation of alleged violations of the Political Donations Act (政治獻金法).
The case is still in the evidence-gathering stage and there is no clear defendant as of yet, Kuo said, adding that the division was not ruling out questioning Chou.
The SID is only gathering evidence to determine whether the case would fall under the division’s jurisdiction, Kuo said, adding that if that was not the case, it would be transferred to the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office.
The district prosecutors’ office would be kept in the loop during the investigation, Kuo said.
Presidential Office spokesperson Ma Wei-kuo (馬瑋國) said yesterday that the allegations were baseless slander and added that Ma had applauded the SID’s initiative to investigate the allegations.
The president has expressed his hope that the judiciary would be able to clear up the incident as soon as possible, Ma Wei-kuo said.
Ma Wei-kuo said the government’s stance on the food safety scandals involving Ting Hsin was that the judiciary should investigate the cases and punish violators of the law heavily.
Meanwhile, in response to Ma Ying-jeou’s litigation against her, Chou said yesterday that she had mentioned specific sources in all recent reports and should the case be taken to court she could prove that all her claims are based on truth by calling witnesses to the stand.
“Since I am the defendant in the suit Ma raised against me, I need not make any statements to the SID that would be disadvantageous to me,” Chou said.
However, she added that an exception could be made if the SID wished to look deeper into the possibility that the Ma administration has been covering for Ting Hsin.
Chou said that by law, the legality of the political donations lay within the jurisdiction of the Control Yuan and not the SID, adding that she would decide whether she would talk with the SID concerning the case today.
Additional reporting by CNA
DEFENSE: The first set of three NASAMS that were previously purchased is expected to be delivered by the end of this year and deployed near the capital, sources said Taiwan plans to procure 28 more sets of M-142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), as well as nine additional sets of National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS), military sources said yesterday. Taiwan had previously purchased 29 HIMARS launchers from the US and received the first 11 last year. Once the planned purchases are completed and delivered, Taiwan would have 57 sets of HIMARS. The army has also increased the number of MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) purchased from 64 to 84, the sources added. Each HIMARS launch pod can carry six Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, capable of
Authorities have detained three former Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TMSC, 台積電) employees on suspicion of compromising classified technology used in making 2-nanometer chips, the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday. Prosecutors are holding a former TSMC engineer surnamed Chen (陳) and two recently sacked TSMC engineers, including one person surnamed Wu (吳) in detention with restricted communication, following an investigation launched on July 25, a statement said. The announcement came a day after Nikkei Asia reported on the technology theft in an exclusive story, saying TSMC had fired two workers for contravening data rules on advanced chipmaking technology. Two-nanometer wafers are the most
TRAJECTORY: The severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday, and would influence the nation to varying degrees, a forecaster said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it would likely issue a sea warning for Tropical Storm Podul tomorrow morning and a land warning that evening at the earliest. CWA forecaster Lin Ting-yi (林定宜) said the severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving west at 21kph and packing sustained winds of 108kph and gusts of up to 136.8kph, the CWA said. Lin said that the tropical storm was about 1,710km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, with two possible trajectories over the next one
Tropical Storm Podul strengthened into a typhoon at 8pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with a sea warning to be issued late last night or early this morning. As of 8pm, the typhoon was 1,020km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving west at 23kph. The storm carried maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts reaching 155kph, the CWA said. Based on the tropical storm’s trajectory, a land warning could be issued any time from midday today, it added. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said Podul is a fast-moving storm that is forecast to bring its heaviest rainfall and strongest
RSS