Former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairman Shih Ming-teh's (施明德) anti-corruption campaign yesterday proposed an amendment to the Anti-Corruption Statute (貪污治罪條例) that would include an article which stipulates government officials who live in luxury explain where their wealth came from.
The proposed amendment also includes a regulation allowing prosecution of the president and the first family for crimes committed during their term, after the president leaves office.
The Constitution protects the president from prosecution for criminal acts but he can be prosecuted for acts of rebellion or treason.
The campaign said that an article allowing the prosecution of non-government personnel who help government officials commit corruption has also been added to the proposal because in many corruption cases, government officials find a third party willing to accept blame for any improper conduct so they can evade punishment.
Anyone who refused an investigation into their property would be punished.
Campaign organizer Yao Li-ming (姚立明) told a press conference that requiring government officials to explain the origin of their wealth is a global trend and was an important way of telling whether someone is corrupt.
The UN Treaty against Corruption passed in 2003 regulates that government officials need to explain how they manage to live such a lifestyle if they obviously cannot afford to do so according to their income, Yao said.
John Wei (魏千峰), who is also an organizer of the campaign, said that over the past decade, many international organizations have come to regard "fighting corruption" as a basic human right and therefore such an article does not contradict the legal principle of "innocent until proven guilty."
Shih told the press that his campaign had been discussing how to help the country establish a sound judicial system.
He said he hoped the proposal would be put on the legislative agenda in the Procedure Committee meeting to be held today, moved directly to a second reading on the legislative floor by Friday and passed into law by Dec. 9, the same day of the year-end mayoral election.
Shih's campaign, led by campaign organizer Wei Yao-chien (魏耀乾), visited party caucuses in the legislature after the press conference.
The proposal gained the support of all party caucuses, with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus and People First Party caucus endorsing it.
The Non-Partisan Solidarity Union also showed its support for the proposal, while the DPP and Taiwan Solidarity Union caucuses said they supported the proposal but hoped Shih's campaign could also support the recovery of the KMT's stolen assets.
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