The Taichung branch of the Taiwan High Court (台灣高等法院) yesterday upheld the May decision by the Miaoli District Court to annul the election of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lee Yi-ting (李乙廷) on charges of vote buying.
The verdict is final.
In response, KMT legislative caucus whip Chang Sho-wen (張碩文) said the verdict highlighted the need to amend the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法) and said he regretted that Lee didn’t have the chance to appeal the decision in a third court hearing.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said the DPP is opposed to a proposal submitted by KMT Legislator Lin Tsang-min (林滄敏) that Article 127 of the law be amended so that election-related lawsuits can be taken to a third trial.
Ker also said that the amendment would be unacceptable to the public and that the DPP would “oppose it all the way.”
Lee, who was elected in Miaoli County’s First District, was accused of letting campaign aides give cash and gifts to temples and organizations in the district between June and October last year while Lee or his campaign aides asked for their support while wearing election vests.
In annulling the election on May 29, the Miaoli Court found that the actions of Lee and his campaign aides were sufficient to influence voters and were an attempt to secure Lee’s election, which violates the first clause of Article 102 in the Public Officials Election and Recall Act.
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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