The wife of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) has been barred from leaving the country during her ongoing trial on corruption and forgery charges, a court official said yesterday.
“Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍) has made public appearances — which were broadcast by the media — showing she was able to move around ... therefore we have decided to prevent her from leaving the country,” said Taipei District Court spokesman Liu Shou-sung (劉壽嵩).
Liu was referring to Wu’s visits to polling stations for parliamentary and presidential elections earlier this year.
The wheelchair-bound Wu collapsed in court in late 2006 at the start of her trial and has since been excused from all court sessions on health grounds.
Wu has pleaded not guilty to charges that she illegally claimed NT$14.8 million (US$450,000) in personal expenses from state funds.
Chen was also named a suspect in 2006 but escaped immediate prosecution because of presidential immunity. But prosecutors launched a corruption probe against Chen less than an hour after he lost his immunity on Tuesday when new President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) took office.
The former president has admitted using false receipts to claim money from the state, but insisted those funds were used for “secret diplomatic missions” and not for his personal benefit.
Prosecutors, however, allege at least US$1.5 million was spent on diamond rings and other luxury items for his wife.
Chen has repeatedly insisted that he and his family are innocent.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
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Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard