The Taiwan High Court yesterday upheld a Taipei District Court ruling that found Taipei District Court Judge Chou Chan-chun (周占春) not guilty of negligence in making a witness’ name public.
Yesterday’s ruling is final.
The High Court’s ruling said that as prosecutors did not apply for the witness’ name to be withheld, Chou was under no obligation to do so.
In December last year, Chou and his secretary, Liu Lee-ying (劉麗英), were charged with malfeasance for alleged negligence in the disclosure of the name of a witness who was involved in an illegal drug production and transportation case heard by Chou, Taipei prosecutors said.
Chou and Liu were found to have failed to seal a classified document that had witnesses’ names in it. As a result, after a lawyer for the defendant in the case, surnamed Lu, read the document and told his client of the matter, the witness was beaten by the defendant, prosecutors said.
Chou was indicted a month after he became the target of some pan-blue political commentators when he cited insufficient evidence in the acquittal of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and his wife, Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍), on charges of laundering and taking bribes from bankers in exchange for manipulating bank mergers.
Last week, in a random drawing, the district court selected Chou and two other judges to co-hear a corruption case against former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), who has been accused of embezzling state funds.
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
About 4.2 million tourist arrivals were recorded in the first half of this year, a 10 percent increase from the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The growth continues to be consistent, with the fourth quarter of this year expected to be the peak in Taiwan, the agency said, adding that it plans to promote Taiwan overseas via partnerships and major events. From January to June, 9.14 million international departures were recorded from Taiwan, an 11 percent increase from the same period last year, with 3.3 million headed for Japan, 1.52 million for China and 832,962 to South Korea,
SOVEREIGNTY: The rigs show that Beijing ‘rejects Taiwan’s jurisdiction’ by building in areas where Taipei demands permission to build or alter installations Chinese oil rigs have been sighted just 26 nautical miles (42km), from Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙島), posing a threat to Taiwan’s sovereignty if left unchallenged, a brief published by the Jamestown Foundation on Tuesday said. Pratas Island, 444km from Kaohsiung, is northeast of the South China Sea and houses a Taiwanese garrison. The brief, titled “Rigging the Game: PRC Oil Structures Encroach on Taiwan’s Pratas Island” — referring to the People’s Republic of China — analyzed photographs and said that Beijing’s tools to pressure Taiwan now include oil rigs. “Oil rigs now constitute part of Beijing’s
The Taiwan Experience Education Program (TEEP) has funded short-term internships in Taiwan for more than 4,500 young people from more than 40 countries since 2015, with the goal of attracting and retaining international talent, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. Fifty-five colleges launched 514 projects this year, including in fields such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence, medicine and biotechnology, green energy, and sustainability, it said. The program provides research and practical internships in Taiwan for two to six months, and offers cultural exchange and networking opportunities, the ministry said. For example, National Formosa University’s Embedded System and Autopilot Laboratory developed two solar-powered drones in
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