Prosecutors yesterday said they are investigating independent Legislator May Chin (
Prosecutors from the Special Investigation Bureau of the Supreme Prosecutors Office on Monday searched Chin's offices in the legislature and a building nearby.
In Ilan, prosecutors on Monday questioned more than 30 Aborigines in the county, where Chin is making her bid for re-election.
Prosecutors suspect Chin used her influence to secure jobs for supporters in return for their vote. They alleged that when the Water Resources Agency proposed hiring 200 individuals to patrol Ilan's major rivers to prevent illegal fishing and sand quarrying in September, Chin provided a list of Aboriginal names to the agency, asking it to hire them.
They said the bureau hired all the individuals in Chin's list.
Chin yesterday defended her innocence, saying she did not buy votes.
She told a press conference that the 22 people hired by the Water Resources Agency sent her a letter in July voicing their hope that the agency could retain their services after the expiration of their initial employment contract.
After verifying that the 22 individuals on the list were unemployed, with three coming from low-income families, her assistant forwarded the letter to the agency, she said.
Twenty of themwere employed by the agency again, she said.
"As an Aboriginal legislator, I was only passing on the voters' letter to the government agency. I did not buy votes," she said, while calling the investigation a "joke."
Meanwhile, Chen was released on NT$300,000 (US$9,000) bail on Monday after being arrested on suspicion of providing a number of voters with tea packs.
Prosecutors interviewed 195 individuals suspected of helping Chen dispatch the tea gifts, or accepting the gifts.
Chen also claimed his innocence. Chen said he sent the tea packs by express mail to local government heads and his supporters during the Dragon Boat Festival in May. It was not an attempt to woo voters' support, as he was not a legislative candidate at the time, he said.
DPP legislative caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) defended Chen's action, saying that sending gifts during the Dragon Boat Festival was a customary practice.
"Chen said he sent the packs via express mail to everybody, including his pan-blue friends," Ker said.
"Why would anybody send a bribe via express mail to his rivals?" he said.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
An exhibition celebrating Taiwan and Japan’s comic culture opened on Saturday in Taichung, featuring a section that explores Taiwanese reproductions of Japanese comics from when martial law limited Japanese representation. “A Century of Manga Culture: An Encounter of Taiwan and Japan’s Youth” held its Taiwan opening ceremony at Taichung’s National Taiwan Museum of Comics after an initial one-month run in Japan’s Kyoto International Manga Museum between May 24 and June 24. Much like the Kyoto exhibition, the show mainly celebrates the comic connection between Taiwan and Japan through late Taiwanese comic book
RSS