The past year has been a rocky one for the cash-strapped Independence Evening Post (自立晚報) and yesterday was no exception.
Chang Fu-tai (
Chang said he has filed forgery charges with the Taipei District Prosecutors' Office against his predecessor, Wang Shih-chien (
"The selection process was unlawful and invalid. I don't enjoy the status of chairman at all," Chang said.
On July 26, it was widely reported that Chang, a doctor of Chinese medicine and chairman of the Green Peace Radio Station (綠色和平), succeeded Wang as the Post's chairman.
Chang, however, said yesterday that he was being used by Wang as a "tool to evade due legal responsibilities."
Before Chang was reported to have taken over at the newspaper, Wang already owed him NT$12 million in loans. Some of those loans had been given to Wang in the name of the newspaper, others were personal loans.
According to Chang, he never signed any documents for the company or took part in any board meetings over the past month and a half.
Chang said he discovered the ploy only a few weeks ago, when he found out that Wang still owed the paper NT$9 million in payment for the employees' labor insurance and NT$12 million in pay to the paper's deliverers.
Wang denied all of Chang's accusations yesterday.
He said he has maintained no connection with the Post since he stepped down from the chairmanship on July 26, urging Chang to take up his responsibility to cope with the paper's financial problems.
Wang said the financial condition of the Post was transparent under his leadership and that he lost hundreds of millions of NT dollars investing in the paper.
Members of the Post's workers' union yesterday protested the buck-passing between the old and new management.
FOUR DESIGNATED AREAS: Notices were issued for live-fire exercises in waters south and northwest of Penghu, northeast of Keelung and west of Kaohsiung, they said The military is planning three major annual exercises across the army, navy and air force this month, with the navy’s “Hai Chiang” (海強, “Sea Strong”) drills running from today through Friday, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The Hai Chiang exercise, which is to take place in waters surrounding Taiwan, would feature P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft and S-70C anti-submarine helicopters, the ministry said, adding that the drills aim to bolster the nation’s offshore defensive capabilities. China has intensified military and psychological pressure against Taiwan, repeatedly sending warplanes and vessels into areas near the nation’s air defense identification zone and across
FORCED LABOR: A US court listed three Taiwanese and nine firms based in Taiwan in its indictment, with eight of the companies registered at the same address Nine companies registered in Taiwan, as well as three Taiwanese, on Tuesday were named by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) as Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs) as a result of a US federal court indictment. The indictment unsealed at the federal court in Brooklyn, New York, said that Chen Zhi (陳志), a dual Cambodian-British national, is being indicted for fraud conspiracy, money laundering and overseeing Prince Holding Group’s forced-labor scam camps in Cambodia. At its peak, the company allegedly made US$30 million per day, court documents showed. The US government has seized Chen’s noncustodial wallet, which contains
SUPPLY CHAIN: Taiwan’s advantages in the drone industry include rapid production capacity that is independent of Chinese-made parts, the economic ministry said The Executive Yuan yesterday approved plans to invest NT$44.2 billion (US$1.44 billion) into domestic production of uncrewed aerial vehicles over the next six years, bringing Taiwan’s output value to more than NT$40 billion by 2030 and making the nation Asia’s democratic hub for the drone supply chain. The proposed budget has NT$33.8 billion in new allocations and NT$10.43 billion in existing funds, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said. Under the new development program, the public sector would purchase nearly 100,000 drones, of which 50,898 would be for civil and government use, while 48,750 would be for national defense, it said. The Ministry of
SENATE RECOMMENDATION: The National Defense Authorization Act encourages the US secretary of defense to invite Taiwan’s navy to participate in the exercises in Hawaii The US Senate on Thursday last week passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2026, which strongly encourages the US secretary of defense to invite Taiwan’s naval forces to participate in the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise, as well as allocating military aid of US$1 billion for Taiwan. The bill, which authorizes appropriations for the military activities of the US Department of Defense, military construction and other purposes, passed with 77 votes in support and 20 against. While the NDAA authorizes about US$925 billion of defense spending, the Central News Agency yesterday reported that an aide of US
RSS