Prosecutors and investigators yesterday questioned former education minister Kirby Yung (楊朝祥) and former vice minister Lin Chao-hsien (林昭賢) concerning their roles in the Jin-Wen scandal.
Several officials from the education ministry and the Jin-Wen Group were also summoned for questioning yesterday. Prosecutors were still questioning suspects and witnesses last night and have not yet decided whether to ask the court to detain any suspect.
Prosecutors were looking into whether Yung and other former education officials had inappro-priately approved development plans for the Jin-Wen Institute of Technology.
Jin-Wen was founded as a poly-technic school in 1986, the year Yung became the director of the ministry's vocational education division, the department that oversees polytechnic schools.
The Jin-Wen polytechnic school's curriculum and student body increased in the following years and it upgraded to become an institute of technology in 1998.
However, investigators suspect that the school did not meet certain requirements during its expansion and upgrade but still passed the ministry's review.
Prosecutors found it suspicious that Yung and Lin, among other education officials, owned houses in the villa community of Ta Hsueh Shih Hsiang (大學詩鄉) built by the Jin-Wen Group. They suspect the houses served as bribes by the former head of the Jin-Wen Group, Chang Wan-li (張萬利).
Yung reportedly bought the house in 1997, when he was vice education minister. But he said it was a normal purchase and that he has done nothing unlawful.
The villa community in question was also built on land which the Jin-Wen Institute had originally applied to use for a campus expansion, according to prosecutors. They are concerned about the process by which zoning for the 12-hectare site changed from farming use, to cultural and educational use and finally to residential use.
Prosecutors have been investigating whether several government departments collaborated with the Jin-Wen group to allow the illegal construction of the villas.
Prosecutors are also investigating whether the ministry granted excessive subsidies to the technology institute.
Last Friday, the Taipei District Court ordered a former principal of the Jin-Wen Institute of Technology, Lin Tsung-sung (
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source