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 (
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
CHINA’s BULLYING: The former British prime minister said that he believes ‘Taiwan can and will’ protect its freedom and democracy, as its people are lovers of liberty Former British prime minister Boris Johnson yesterday said Western nations should have the courage to stand with and deepen their economic partnerships with Taiwan in the face of China’s intensified pressure. He made the remarks at the ninth Ketagalan Forum: 2025 Indo-Pacific Security Dialogue hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Prospect Foundation in Taipei. Johnson, who is visiting Taiwan for the first time, said he had seen Taiwan’s coastline on a screen on his indoor bicycle, but wanted to learn more about the nation, including its artificial intelligence (AI) development, the key technology of the 21st century. Calling himself an
RSS