A prosecutor confirmed yesterday that probes into allegations of corruption against president-elect Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) rival Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) were ongoing.
Chen Yun-nan (陳雲南), spokesman for the Supreme Prosecutors Office's Special Investigation Panel, told reporters yesterday that investigations were ongoing and that prosecutors could summon Ma and Hsieh for questioning if necessary.
Chen also addressed the possibility that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) could be indicted after he leaves the Presidential Office in May, but denied that the panel had decided to bring Chen into court soon after he steps down.
The Taipei District Prosecutors Office in November 2006 indicted first lady Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍) on corruption and forgery charges in connection with the handling of the "state affairs fund," in which the president is also suspected of graft and forgery. But presidential immunity prevented President Chen from facing charges.
The spokesman said that as Wu was indicted by the Taipei District Prosecutors Office before the panel was formed, the latter was not involved in President Chen's case.
The allegations against Hsieh were related to the Kaohsiung mass rapid transit system, the election of Kaohsiung Bank board members, the Dream Mall project, the Kaohsiung Stadium project and a case involving political contributions.
For his part, Ma faced allegations over the three-in-one sale of the Broadcasting Corp of China, China Television Co and Central Motion Picture Corp to China Times Group subsidiary Jungli Investment Co in 2005 for NT$9.3 billion (US$286.7 million), as well as the KMT's sale of the Institute of Policy Research and Development building to Yuan Lih Construction Corp for NT$4.3 billion last year.
Both deals took place when Ma was KMT chairman.
A prosecutor told the Taipei Times on Sunday that Ma could face additional corruption charges, but that any investigation, indictment or trial would be suspended when he takes office on May 20 because of presidential immunity.
State Prosecutor-General Chen Tsung-ming (
Former Czech Republic-based Taiwanese researcher Cheng Yu-chin (鄭宇欽) has been sentenced to seven years in prison on espionage-related charges, China’s Ministry of State Security announced yesterday. China said Cheng was a spy for Taiwan who “masqueraded as a professor” and that he was previously an assistant to former Cabinet secretary-general Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). President-elect William Lai (賴清德) on Wednesday last week announced Cho would be his premier when Lai is inaugurated next month. Today is China’s “National Security Education Day.” The Chinese ministry yesterday released a video online showing arrests over the past 10 years of people alleged to be
THE HAWAII FACTOR: While a 1965 opinion said an attack on Hawaii would not trigger Article 5, the text of the treaty suggests the state is covered, the report says NATO could be drawn into a conflict in the Taiwan Strait if Chinese forces attacked the US mainland or Hawaii, a NATO Defense College report published on Monday says. The report, written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, states that under certain conditions a Taiwan contingency could trigger Article 5 of NATO, under which an attack against any member of the alliance is considered an attack against all members, necessitating a response. Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty specifies that an armed attack in the territory of any member in Europe,
LIKE FAMILY: People now treat dogs and cats as family members. They receive the same medical treatments and tests as humans do, a veterinary association official said The number of pet dogs and cats in Taiwan has officially outnumbered the number of human newborns last year, data from the Ministry of Agriculture’s pet registration information system showed. As of last year, Taiwan had 94,544 registered pet dogs and 137,652 pet cats, the data showed. By contrast, 135,571 babies were born last year. Demand for medical care for pet animals has also risen. As of Feb. 29, there were 5,773 veterinarians in Taiwan, 3,993 of whom were for pet animals, statistics from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency showed. In 2022, the nation had 3,077 pediatricians. As of last
XINJIANG: Officials are conducting a report into amending an existing law or to enact a special law to prohibit goods using forced labor Taiwan is mulling an amendment prohibiting the importation of goods using forced labor, similar to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) passed by the US Congress in 2021 that imposed limits on goods produced using forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region. A government official who wished to remain anonymous said yesterday that as the US customs law explicitly prohibits the importation of goods made using forced labor, in 2021 it passed the specialized UFLPA to limit the importation of cotton and other goods from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur region. Taiwan does not have the legal basis to prohibit the importation of goods