Viewed by many as a high-flyer, DPP Legislator Chou Po-lun's (
The project surfaced in 1988 when then-Taipei City councilor Chen Sheng-hung (
TAIPEI TIMES FILE PHOTO
After the lawsuit dragged on for 15 years, Chou was finally found guilty of corruption for taking NT$16 million from the company.
The final verdict also suspends Chou's civil liberties for four years. The suspension of his liberties will not go into effect until after he completes his jail term. The move will strip Chou of the right to vote and to run for office.
Another former Taipei City councilor, Chen Chun-yuan (陳俊源), was sentenced to five years in jail in addition to having his civil rights revoked for three years and four months.
Several other councilors and city government officials also took part in the influence-peddling scheme that sought unsuccessfully to turn part of the park near the Sungshan Airport into a commercial-residential zone.
While 10 city government officials and five city councilors were eventually acquitted, Chou and Chen were the only two city councilors convicted.
Chou resigned as a lawmaker one day after the verdict. The Taipei District Prosecutors' Office banned him from leaving the country on that same day. Chou is expected to start serving his jail term next Sunday.
Chou, who has served as a legislator representing Taipei County since 1992, has closed down his legislative office and withdrawn from the media spotlight.
DPP legislative leader Ker Chien-ming (
"It's such a pity to lose someone who is such a witty and formidable fighter both in real life and in the legislature," Ker said.
Chou's conviction cuts the number of DPP lawmakers from 89 to 88. The total number of pan-green lawmakers stands at 102, while that of the blue camp stands at 110.
According to Ker, Chou was emotional on the night of the verdict.
"He felt sorry for himself. He said he had managed to remain a free man during KMT rule, but ironically was put behind bars after the DPP came to power," Ker said.
Chou's 85-year-old mother, who was unaware of her only son's fate, rushed to Taipei after learning of the news by watching TV.
"I still believe he's innocent," Ker quoted her as saying.
Former DPP chairman Shih Ming-teh (施明德), another friend who stayed with Chou on the night of the verdict, said that although he felt sorry for Chou, there is something to feel cheerful about.
"I bet it will be a good time for him to quit drinking once he's in there," Shih said.
Many of Chou's friends have volunteered to help since they learned of Chou's verdict.
DPP legislative whip Chen Chi-mai (
"That's something I can do for my friend," he said.
DPP Legislator Tsai Huang-lang (
"His family means a lot to him just like mine matters a lot to me," he said.
Outspoken and down-to-earth, the 49-year-old native of Taipei County has been viewed by many as a cunning politician whose bravado is an invaluable asset.
He is one of the few politicians who dares to stand up for his beliefs, although these sometimes clash with those of his party.
A member of the party's anti-nuclear wing, Chou came forward to attack the DPP-led government after the Executive Yuan decided in August 2001 not to hold a non-binding referendum on the construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant during the year-end legislative elections.
In addition to asking then-premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) and Cabinet Secretary-General Chiou I-jen (邱義仁) to apologize to the public, Chou requested the two resign to take the blame for the fiasco.
In December 2001, Chou came to the rescue of his fellow colleague, Lin Chung-mo (
Lin accused Sisy Chen of "screwing up" the political careers of two former DPP chairmen, Shih Ming-teh (
Considering that most countries issue more than five denominations of banknotes, the central bank has decided to redesign all five denominations, the bank said as it prepares for the first major overhaul of the banknotes in more than 24 years. Central bank Governor Yang Chin-lung (楊金龍) is expected to report to the Legislative Yuan today on the bank’s operations and the redesign’s progress. The bank in a report sent to the legislature ahead of today’s meeting said it had commissioned a survey on the public’s preferences. Survey results showed that NT$100 and NT$1,000 banknotes are the most commonly used, while NT$200 and NT$2,000
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported the first case of a new COVID-19 subvariant — BA.3.2 — in a 10-year-old Singaporean girl who had a fever upon arrival in Taiwan and tested positive for the disease. The girl left Taiwan on March 20 and the case did not have a direct impact on the local community, it said. The WHO added the BA.3.2 strain to its list of Variants Under Monitoring in December last year, but this was the first imported case of the COVID-19 variant in Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ming-cheng (林明誠) said. The girl arrived in Taiwan on
South Korea is planning to revise its controversial electronic arrival card, a step Taiwanese officials said prompted them to hold off on planned retaliatory measures, a South Korean media report said yesterday. A Yonhap News Agency report said that the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs is planning to remove the “previous departure place” and “next destination” fields from its e-arrival card system. The plan, reached after interagency consultations, is under review and aims to simplify entry procedures and align the electronic form with the paper version, a South Korean ministry official said. The fields — which appeared only on the electronic form
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) is suspending retaliation measures against South Korea that were set to take effect tomorrow, after Seoul said it is updating its e-arrival system, MOFA said today. The measures were to be a new round of retaliation after Taiwan on March 1 changed South Korea's designation on government-issued alien resident certificates held by South Korean nationals to "South Korea” from the "Republic of Korea," the country’s official name. The move came after months of protests to Seoul over its listing of Taiwan as "China (Taiwan)" in dropdown menus on its new online immigration entry system. MOFA last week
RSS