Prosecutorial authorities said yesterday they were probing more than 5,600 cases of alleged vote buying, indicating the scale of vote-buying during the legislative election campaign.
"Law enforcement officials expect vote buying to become more serious in the final days before the election and will therefore increase their efforts to stamp out this illegal behavior," State Prosecutor-General Chen Tsung-ming (陳聰明) told a press conference yesterday.
Chen said that up until yesterday, prosecutors were probing a total of 5,669 alleged instances of vote buying involving 10,332 people.
He said that so far only 14 individuals had been indicted in relation to two cases.
He said prosecutors had summoned a total of 3,429 individuals for questioning in relation to 283 cases and that 199 individuals had been arrested in relation to 46 other cases.
The top prosecutor said the number of reported vote-buying cases in relation to the March presidential election stood at 96 and involved 139 individuals.
While judges have ordered 38 people detained in connection with 29 cases, 138 people involved in 89 other cases were released on bail, he said.
He said prosecutors had been monitoring telephones and cellphones as part of their investigations and would increase monitoring in the coming days.
Chen said that in the remaining days before the elections, law enforcement officials would increase monitoring of candidates and their campaign workers.
Chen said law enforcement officials would also focus on detecting candidates who attempt to lure voters with money.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
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