Two more principals in New Taipei City (新北市) were detained yesterday for allegedly accepting bribes from catering firms, the Banciao District Prosecutors’ Office said, in an ongoing scandal over school lunch vendors.
Principals Lee Ying-tsung (李應宗) of Houpu Elementary School, in Banciao (板橋), and Ko Fen (柯份) of Luzhou Elementary School were held incommunicado on corruption charges.
Principals Hsu Li-chen (許利楨) of Cheng Kung Elementary School in Lujhou District (蘆洲) and Tsai Pao-chun (蔡寶俊) from Qing Shui Elementary School in Tucheng District (土城), who are also under investigation, were released on NT$1 million (US$33,300) bail after lengthy questioning that began on Thursday.
Meanwhile, New Taipei City’s Department of Education announced that Lee and Ko would be suspended from their positions, while Hsu and Tsai would be demoted to teaching posts and reassigned to the department as staff.
The four were questioned after Banciao prosecutors launched a second wave of investigations on Thursday into cases of alleged bribery over the provision of school lunches, looking into the practices at 13 elementary schools and seven junior-high schools in New Taipei City.
During the first wave of investigations, Banciao prosecutors on Oct. 28 detained 14 people in New Taipei City, including five principals, a middleman and a number of school employees overseeing lunch programs.
The recent probes came in response to a tip-off in May that several elementary-school principals in New Taipei City had been accepting kickbacks from lunch suppliers.
Minister of Education Wu Ching-ji (吳清基) yesterday instructed all city and county governments to immediately launch investigations to determine whether schools beyond New Taipei City are also involved in the practice, especially as most elementary and junior-high schools have cafeterias supplied by privately run catering companies.
Also yesterday, the Taiwan High Court revoked the Banciao District Court’s ruling from late last month on the 14 people questioned in the first wave of investigations and ordered a retrial.
The Banciao District Court, on the recommendation of the District Prosecutors’ Office, on Oct. 29 released two principals on NT$200,000 bail, while three other principals, nine school employees and private caterers be held incommunicado.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) today said that if South Korea does not reply appropriately to its request to correct Taiwan’s name on its e-Arrival card system before March 31, it would take corresponding measures to alter how South Korea is labeled on the online Taiwan Arrival Card system. South Korea’s e-Arrival card system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in the “point of departure” and “next destination” fields. The ministry said that it changed the nationality for South Koreans on Taiwan’s Alien Resident Certificates from “Korea” to “South Korea” on March 1, in a gesture of goodwill and based on the
Taiwanese officials were shown the first of 66 F-16V fighter jets purchased by Taiwan from the United States, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday, adding the aircraft has completed an initial flight test and is expected to be delivered later this year. A delegation led by Deputy Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) visited Lockheed Martin’s F-16 C/D Block 70 (also known as F-16V) assembly line in South Carolina on March 16 to view the aircraft. The jet will undergo a final acceptance flight in the US before being delivered to Taiwan, the
The New Taipei Metro's Sanyin Line and the eastern extension of the Taipei Metro's Tamsui-Xinyi Line (Red Line) are scheduled to begin operations in June, the National Development Council said today. The Red Line, which terminates at Xiangshan Station, would be connected by the 1.4km extension to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, while the Sanyin Line would link New Taipei City's Tucheng and Yingge stations via Sanxia District (三峽). The council gave the updates at a council meeting reviewing progress on public construction projects for this year. Taiwan's annual public infrastructure budget would remain at NT$800 billion (US$25.08 billion), with NT$97.3
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