Kaohsiung prosecutors yesterday said they will investigate allegations of bribery leveled at presidential advisor and former city council speaker Chen Tien-mao (陳田錨).
The prosecutors were acting on an accusation made on Thursday by Wu Te-mei (
Wu accused Chen of attempting to buy votes during an election for speaker eight years ago.
"We have begun the investigation process. We will not complete it until we establish innocence or guilt," said Chou Chang-chin (周章欽), spokesman for the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors' Office.
Political factors had interfered with justice in her and her hus-band's case, Wu said during an interview with reporters on Thursday.
She said that bribery was very common during local elections, and that Chen had attempted to buy votes from Chu while campaigning for the speaker's post eight years ago.
"I did once receive bribe money from Chen on behalf of my husband, but I returned it straight away," Wu said.
"It was the year my husband ... won his first city council campaign and became a Kaohsiung City councilor," she said.
Wu did not describe the incident in great detail, and did not say how much money she allegedly received from Chen.
"It's our job to determine if Wu's allegation is true, now that she has publicly identified Chen. If it's not true, Chen will have the right to file suit for slander," Chou said.
Chen, a former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) heavyweight, has denied Wu's accusation, saying he never bought votes during his career as a councilor.
"It's ridiculous. The truth will prove her wrong," he said.
Chen is now a senior advisor to the president. He first became a councilor in Kaohsiung City in 1958 and served as speaker for the first time in 1968. Prior to leaving the council in 1998, Chen had been speaker for 17 years.
The Kaohsiung District Court sentenced Chu and Wu to jail for buying votes during last December's election for council speaker.
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS