A group of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers yesterday accused the government of interfering with the judicial investigation into Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou's (
Taiwan High Court Prosecutor-General Hsieh Wen-ting (謝文定) was required to decide whether to indict Ma for the matter before the Dec. 9 elections for the mayors of Taipei and Kaohsiung, KMT Legislator Justin Chou (周守訓) told a press conference.
"The investigation into the allegation against President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) state affairs fund has dragged on. Why does Ma have to be indicted within two months?" he asked.
PHOTO: CNA
Chou also criticized Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) for sitting on a document proposed to help prosecutors clear up the "gray area" of the allowance system.
Ma, who was accused of misusing the fund, has defended himself by saying that potential problems with the way that he handled the mayoral special allowance were the result of pitfalls in the way the allowance system was organized.
The case is now being handled by Prosecutor Hou Kuan-jen (
"The document proposed by the officials with the seventh section of the Executive Yuan would help prosecutors understand the systemic problems with the special allowance fund, but Su refused to hand it over to prosecutors," Chou said.
Chou, however, didn't provide evidence for either accusation.
In response, Hsieh said that "It is untrue [that prosecutors were asked to indict Ma by Dec.9.]" "[Chou is] full of crap. Neither I nor the Black Gold Investigation Center has suffered political pressure for the investigation [into Ma's fund]," Hsieh said, urging lawmakers to provide proof of their accusations instead of talking through their hats.
Cabinet Spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (
"I have no idea where the lawmaker's accusation came from. Since it is a legal case, a decision regarding any possible irregularities will be decided by prosecutors. The premier never tries to hold sway over prosecutors," he said.
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
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US climber Alex Honnold left Taiwan this morning a day after completing a free-solo ascent of Taipei 101, a feat that drew cheers from onlookers and gained widespread international attention. Honnold yesterday scaled the 101-story skyscraper without a rope or safety harness. The climb — the highest urban free-solo ascent ever attempted — took just more than 90 minutes and was streamed live on Netflix. It was covered by major international news outlets including CNN, the New York Times, the Guardian and the Wall Street Journal. As Honnold prepared to leave Taiwan today, he attracted a crowd when he and his wife, Sanni,
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