The first term of the Greater Kaohsiung City Council, which has been plagued by a series of lawsuits involving city councilors, could become even more controversial as the probe into an alleged graft case centered around former Executive Yuan secretary-general Lin Yi-shih (林益世) widens to include the council.
According to sources familiar with the matter, the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office Special Investigation Division (SID) will soon subpoena a number of Greater Kaohsiung city councilors, including several heavyweights, to investigate allegations that some of them pressured the city’s Environmental Protection Bureau on behalf of Chen Chi-hsiang (陳啟祥), the lead witness in the case.
Chen allegedly sought out city councilors for “assistance” after China Steel Corp (CSC) and two of its subsidiaries refused to supply his metal-recycling company, Ti Yung Co, with materials in accordance with a decision by the bureau on March 23 that Ti Yung had caused environmental pollution.
Ti Yung secured slag treatment contracts from the three companies, allegedly with the help of Lin, whom Chen accused of accepting a bribe of NT$63 million (US$2.15 million) from him to assist with the matter in 2010 and who had asked for a further NT$83 million this year.
On June 1, the bureau overturned the resolution on the grounds that the company had addressed the pollution concerns, prompting suspicions that the move followed pressure from city councilors.
The first-term city councilors were sworn in on Dec. 25, 2010 after Kaohsiung City merged with Kaohsiung County to form one of five special municipalities.
However, after only one-and-a-half years in office, several city councilors have become embroiled in lawsuits that have tarnished the image of the city council.
On the day of their inauguration, all 66 city councilors were indicted for making public classified legal documents by allegedly showing their ballots during a vote for the city council speaker.
A total of 53 councilors who admitted wrongdoing and expressed remorse were given a deferred prosecution, while the rest were indicted by prosecutors.
Meanwhile, 12 city councilors, including Greater Kaohsiung City Council Speaker Hsu Kun-yuan (許崑源), were charged with perjury in May last year — on conclusion of an investigation which was launched in 2009 — on suspicion of submitting fake expenses claims for employing figurehead assistants.
Four first-term city councilors, including Sun Ching-lung (孫慶龍), Yang Jian-fu (楊見福), Lee Hung-jun (李鴻鈞), Tseng Shui-wen (曾水文) and Chu Hsin-chiang (朱信強), were also stripped of their seats after being found guilty of vote-buying, while Chen Chih-chung (陳致中), son of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), was stripped of his position after being sentenced to a three-month jail term for perjury in a money-laundering case involving his family.
FAST TRACK? Chinese spouses must renounce their Chinese citizenship and pledge allegiance to Taiwan to gain citizenship, some demonstrators said Opponents and supporters of a bill that would allow Chinese spouses to obtain Taiwanese citizenship in four years instead of six staged protests near the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday morning. Those who oppose the bill proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) demanded that Chinese spouses be granted citizenship only after renouncing their Chinese citizenship, passing a citizenship test and pledging allegiance to Taiwan. The demonstrators, who were protesting at a side entrance to the Legislative Yuan on Jinan Road, were mostly members of the Taiwan Association of University Professors and other organizations advocating Taiwanese independence. Supporters of the bill, led
SILENT MAJORITY: Only 1 percent of Chinese rejected all options but war to annex Taiwan, while one-third viewed war as unacceptable, a university study showed Many Chinese are more concerned with developments inside their country than with seeking unification with Taiwan, al-Jazeera reported on Friday. Although China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to annex it, by force if necessary, 23-year-old Chinese Shao Hongtian was quoted by al-Jazeera as saying that “hostilities are not the way to bring China and Taiwan together.” “I want unification to happen peacefully,” Shao said. Al-Jazeera said it changed Shao’s name to respect his wish for anonymity. If peaceful unification is not possible, Shao said he would prefer “things to remain as they are,” adding that many of his friends feel
Taiwan has “absolute air superiority” over China in its own airspace, Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) told a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Monday, amid concern over whether Taipei could defend itself against a military incursion by Beijing. Po made the remarks in response to a question from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) on whether Taiwan would have partial or complete air superiority if Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes were to enter Taiwan’s airspace. Po, a retired pilot, said that the Taiwanese military has “absolute air superiority” over PLA
A shipment of basil pesto imported by Costco Wholesale Taiwan from the US in the middle of last month was intercepted at the border after testing positive for excessive pesticide residue, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. Samples taken from a shipment of the Kirkland Signature brand of basil pesto imported by Costco contained 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of ethylene oxide, exceeding the non-detectable limit. Ethylene oxide is a carcinogenic substance that can be used as a pesticide. The 674kg shipment of basil pesto would either be destroyed or returned to its country of origin, as is the procedure for all