Taitung Council Speaker Wu Chun-li (吳俊立) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), who is running for the top job in Taitung County as an independent candidate, was released on NT$1million (US$29,800) bail yesterday morning after he was detained on Saturday for questioning as part of a vote-buying investigation.
Taoyuan prosecutors raided the KMT's Taitung branch office on Saturday and seized NT$400,000 in cash and several electoral registers. Prosecutors had suspected that the party was ready to conduct vote-buying for Wu in the build up to Saturday's election. In a bid to to gather more evidence, prosecutors also raided Wu's Taichung Council office and his election headquarters early yesterday morning, seizing more cash.
After the raids, prosecutors immediately summoned Wu for questioning, releasing him on bail at 7am yesterday.
PHOTO: CHANG TSUN-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES
Wu told local reporters that he was innocent and he would continue his campaign after his release.
In response, the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) caucus whip, Jao Yung-ching (趙永清), called on KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday to take immediate action rather than waiting to see if Wu is convicted.
"Bail being set at NT$1 million means this is a serious matter. I don't think prosecutors would impose such a large amount unless they are pretty sure of illegal practices," Jao said.
As many KMT's candidates or their family members are under suspicion of vote-buying, Jao said that Ma must make public his stance on the issue and mete out punishments accordingly.
Apart from Wu, Jao singled out the KMT's candidate in Nantou County, Nantou City Mayor Lee Chao-ching (李朝卿). Lee's wife, Chien Su-tuan (簡素端), is suspected of conducting vote-buying activities on his behalf.
Chien had reportedly been giving out free gifts in order to persuade potential voters to support her husband since July. Chien, however, has denied the allegations and is now out on bail of NT$1.5 million.
Jao, a former KMT member, said that as far as he knows, many KMT local chapters have been conducting vote-buying. Although Wu is running as an independent, he believes that the slush money discovered at the KMT's local chapter is related to Wu's campaign.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
Taiwan’s two cases of hantavirus so far this year are on par with previous years’ case numbers, and the government is coordinating rat extermination work, so there should not be any outbreaks, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said today in an interview with the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper). An increase in rat sightings in Taipei and New Taipei City has raised concerns about the spread of hantavirus, as rats can carry the disease. In January, a man in his 70s who lived in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) tested positive posthumously for hantavirus, Taiwan’s
RSS