Police should stop at nothing to crack down on vote buying, including pulling over the "black lim-ousines" of politicians on election day to check for illegal handouts, the Minister of the Interior Chang Po-ya (張博雅) said yesterday.
"Even a black limousine on the streets should be stopped and checked if our law-enforcement officials think the vehicle looks suspicious," Chang said.
Chang made the remarks yesterday at a seminar hosted by the Taiwan Police College.
The interior minister noted that an anonymous lawmaker once boasted that he would dare to drive his black limousine to deliver vote-buying money -- even though law-enforcement officials vowed to crack down on the practice.
"Because investigators and police officers know these black limousines belong to important people, they assume these people wouldn't be involved in any wrong-doing," Chang said.
"This attitude should be corrected from now on," she said. "And our police officers as well as investigators will have the power to enforce the law when necessary."
Chang said it was important that police be given sufficient resources to crack down on vote buying.
Once as mayor of Chiayi, Chang received a tip about a vote-buying case. She contacted a local prosecutor hoping that the suspects would be captured at the scene.
But while prosecutors took the information, the case wasn't followed up.
After three more phone calls, the prosecutor told her, "we do not have enough manpower at this moment."
In related news, the Ministry of Justice yesterday unveiled a program in which tipsters would receive NT$10 million for providing information on vote-buying related to the legislative races.
The ministry will pay NT$5 million if a suspect is found guilty after his first trial. The remainder would be paid after the final verdict is received.
Rewards for tip-offs related to the presidential election were as high as NT$15 million, while the pay-off is NT$5 million in councilor elections. The rewards will be paid from the Ministry of Justice's annual budget.
Wang Chin-wang (
"We have said more than once that this is for real this time," Wang said of the government's efforts to ensure clean elections during the Dec. 1 polls.
"The police definitely have the ability and determination to fight bribery, and we will not give up any case -- no matter who it is and where it is."
Through yesterday, the National Police Administration had received 365 reports of election-related wrong-doing.
Ten are related to violence and 113 are currently under investigation by local prosecutors.
In the meantime, police are monitoring 323 telephone numbers of candidates under suspicion.
Taipei and Chiayi prosecutors officially established yesterday special investigation centers to take vote-buying complaints.
"We will pull them off their posts if these candidates do buy votes," said Shih Mao-lin (
FIREPOWER: On top of the torpedoes, the military would procure Kestrel II anti-tank weapons systems to replace aging license-produced M72 LAW launchers Taiwan is to receive US-made Mark 48 torpedoes and training simulators over the next three years, following delays that hampered the navy’s operational readiness, the Ministry of National Defense’s latest budget proposal showed. The navy next year would acquire four training simulator systems for the torpedoes and take receipt of 14 torpedoes in 2027 and 10 torpedoes in 2028, the ministry said in its budget for the next fiscal year. The torpedoes would almost certainly be utilized in the navy’s two upgraded Chien Lung-class submarines and the indigenously developed Hai Kun, should the attack sub successfully reach operational status. US President Donald Trump
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to start construction of its 1.4-nanometer chip manufacturing facilities at the Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP, 中部科學園區) as early as October, the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) reported yesterday, citing the park administration. TSMC acquired land for the second phase of the park’s expansion in Taichung in June. Large cement, construction and facility engineering companies in central Taiwan have reportedly been receiving bids for TSMC-related projects, the report said. Supply-chain firms estimated that the business opportunities for engineering, equipment and materials supply, and back-end packaging and testing could reach as high as
ALL QUIET: The Philippine foreign secretary told senators she would not respond to questions about whether Lin Chia-lung was in the country The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday confirmed that a business delegation is visiting the Philippines, but declined to say whether Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) is part of the group, as Philippine lawmakers raised questions over Lin’s reported visit. The group is being led by Deputy Minister of Agriculture Huang Chao-chin (黃昭欽), Chinese International Economic Cooperation Association (CIECA) chairman Joseph Lyu (呂桔誠) and US-Taiwan Business Council (USTBC) vice president Lotta Danielsson, the ministry said in a statement. However, sources speaking on condition of anonymity said that Lin is leading the delegation of 70 people. Filinvest New Clark City Innovation Park
DEFENSIVE EDGE: The liaison officer would work with Taiwan on drones and military applications for other civilian-developed technologies, a source said A Pentagon unit tasked with facilitating the US military’s adoption of new technology is soon to deploy officials to dozens of friendly nations, including Taiwan, the Financial Times reported yesterday. The US Department of Defense’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) is to send a representative to collaborate with Taiwan on drones and military applications from the semiconductor industry by the end of the year, the British daily reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “Drones will certainly be a focus, but they will also be looking at connecting to the broader civilian and dual-use ecosystem, including the tech sector,” one source was
RSS