The Taipei District Court yesterday asked a number of current and former officials with the Pres-idential Office to appear in court as witnesses in next week's hearing on the "state affairs fund" case.
The court asked the officials to appear following a request by Prosecutor Chang Hsi-huai (張熙懷), one of the prosecutors in the "state affairs fund" case, in which first lady Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍) and three former Presidential Office aides -- deputy secretary-general Ma Yung-cheng (馬永成), secretariat director Lin Te-hsun (林德訓) and treasurer Chen Cheng-hui (陳鎮慧) -- were indicted on charges of corruption for allegedly embezzling NT$14.8 million (US$449,600) from the fund.
Chang asked the court to summon Presidential Secretary-General Mark Chen (
While Judge Tsai Shou-hsun (
Chang said prosecutors made the request because the Presidential Office refused to produce certain documents on the six diplomatic projects relating to the "state affairs fund" case after the court twice sent letters asking the Presidential Office to hand over the documents.
In both cases, the Presidential Office replied to the court that turning over the documents was a matter for the president himself to decide, not the Presidential Office.
Three lots of documents were sealed by Prosecutor Eric Chen (
The court has been attempting to clarify whether the diplomatic projects had been approved and later placed under the protection of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (
Chang also asked the court to summon doctors from National Taiwan University Hospital who are in charge of Wu's medical treatments, and asked for all of Wu's medical records from July to the present.
"We need thorough information about Wu's health condition to determine whether she is fit to appear at the hearing and what medical arrangements the court needs to prepare if she is in attendance," Chang said.
Attorney Yang Feng-wan (楊芳婉) argued that prosecutors should respect medical professionals.
In the end, Tsai said that the court had not decided whether to grant the prosecutors' requests in Wu's case.
Wu was absent from yesterday's hearing.
She has missed three hearings since falling ill during the court's first hearing on Dec. 15.
GENSLER SURVEY: ‘Economic infrastructure is not enough. A city needs to inspire pride, offer moments of joy and foster a sense of belonging,’ the company said Taipei was named the city with the “highest staying power” in the world by US-based design and architecture firm Gensler. The Taiwanese capital earned the top spot among 65 cities across six continents with 64 percent of Taipei respondents in a survey of 33,000 people saying they wanted to stay in the city. Rounding out the top five were Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City (61 percent), Singapore (59 percent), Sydney (58 percent) and Berlin (51 percent). Sixth to 10th place went to Monterrey, Mexico; Munich, Germany; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Vancouver; and Seoul. Cities in the US were ranked separately, with Minneapolis first at
The Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association has cautioned Japanese travelers to be vigilant against pickpockets at several popular tourist spots in Taiwan, including Taipei’s night markets, the Yongkang Street area, Zhongshan MRT Station, and Jiufen (九份) in New Taipei City. The advisory, titled “Recent Development of Concerns,” was posted on the association’s Web site under its safety and emergency report section. It urges travelers to keep backpacks fully zipped and carried in front, with valuables placed at the bottom of the bag. Visitors are advised to be especially mindful of their belongings when taking photos or speaking on the phone, avoid storing wallets and
Scoot announced yesterday that starting in October, it would increase flights between Taipei and Japan’s Narita airport and Hokkaido, and between Singapore and Taipei. The low-cost airline, a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, also said it would launch flights to Chiang Rai in Thailand, Okinawa and Tokyo’s Haneda airport between December and March next year. Flights between Singapore and Chiang Rai would begin on Jan. 1, with five flights per week operated by an Embraer E190-E2 aircraft, Scoot said. Flights between Singapore and Okinawa would begin on Dec. 15, with three flights per week operated by Airbus A320 aircraft, the airline said. Services between Singapore
ENDORSING TAIWAN: Honduran presidential candidate Nasry Afura said that Honduras was ‘100 times better off’ when it was allied with Taipei The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said it would explore the possibility of restoring diplomatic relations with Honduras based on the principle of maintaining national interests and dignity. The ministry made the remarks in response to reporters’ questions regarding an article titled: “Will Taiwan Regain a Diplomatic Ally?” published in The Diplomat on Saturday. The article said Honduras’ presidential election in November could offer Taiwan the chance to regain an ally, as multiple candidates have promoted re-establishing diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Honduras severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan in March 2023 in favor of Beijing, but since switching its diplomatic recognition,
RSS