If convicted former legislative speaker Liu Sung-fan (
Hwang Yih-jiau (
Ex-KMT member
Liu, 74, served as speaker of the Legislative Yuan from 1992 to 1999 while the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) was in power, but he joined the PFP in January 2000 and became one of its legislators-at-large after he was expelled from the KMT for supporting PFP Chairman James Soong (
Liu was sentenced to four years in jail and given a NT$30 million (US$903,000) fine in September last year by the Taiwan High Court's Taichung Branch for corruption.
The court found that, as chairman of the board at the Taichung Business Bank, Liu received NT$150 million in kickbacks from Tseng Cheng-jen (
Away when sentenced
At the time of the sentence, Liu was attending the Republican Party convention in New York. He has remained in the US ever since.
The warrant issued for his arrest will remain valid for 15 years.
Also commenting on the report about Liu's intention to return, William Lai (
Jail first
He said that Liu should come back to Taiwan to serve his sentence, and that if he is found to have a health problem while he is in jail, the legal system may grant him bail for medical treatment based on humanitarian considerations.
Answering questions in the legislature, Minister of Justice Morley Shih (
A preclearance service to facilitate entry for people traveling to select airports in Japan would be available from Thursday next week to Feb. 25 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC) said on Tuesday. The service was first made available to Taiwanese travelers throughout the winter vacation of 2024 and during the Lunar New Year holiday. In addition to flights to the Japanese cities of Hakodate, Asahikawa, Akita, Sendai, Niigata, Okayama, Takamatsu, Kumamoto and Kagoshima, the service would be available to travelers to Kobe and Oita. The service can be accessed by passengers of 15 flight routes operated by
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Taiwanese and US defense groups are collaborating to introduce deployable, semi-autonomous manufacturing systems for drones and components in a boost to the nation’s supply chain resilience. Taiwan’s G-Tech Optroelectronics Corp subsidiary GTOC and the US’ Aerkomm Inc on Friday announced an agreement with fellow US-based Firestorm Lab to adopt the latter’s xCell, a technology featuring 3D printers fitted in 6.1m container units. The systems enable aerial platforms and parts to be produced in high volumes from dispersed nodes capable of rapid redeployment, to minimize the risk of enemy strikes and to meet field requirements, they said. Firestorm chief technology officer Ian Muceus said
MORE FALL: An investigation into one of Xi’s key cronies, part of a broader ‘anti-corruption’ drive, indicates that he might have a deep distrust in the military, an expert said China’s latest military purge underscores systemic risks in its shift from collective leadership to sole rule under Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), and could disrupt its chain of command and military capabilities, a national security official said yesterday. If decisionmaking within the Chinese Communist Party has become “irrational” under one-man rule, the Taiwan Strait and the regional situation must be approached with extreme caution, given unforeseen risks, they added. The anonymous official made the remarks as China’s Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia (張又俠) and Joint Staff Department Chief of Staff Liu Zhenli (劉振立) were reportedly being investigated for suspected “serious