Control Yuan member Yeh Yao-peng (葉耀鵬) yesterday said he will proceed with his probe into the case of Yu Chang Biologics Co, even though prosecutors announced this week that they have decided to close the case involving former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) as no criminal wrong-doing was uncovered.
Yeh said he will go ahead with his plan as scheduled to subpoena individuals involved in the case, including Tsai and DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌).
Yu Chang is now called TaiMed Biologics Inc.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office Special Investigation Division (SID) closed its investigation into the case and cleared Tsai of any wrongdoing.
In late November last year, ahead of the Jan. 14 presidential election, Tsai, then the DPP’s presidential candidate, was accused by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) of manipulating investments by the National Development Fund (NDF) in TaiMed when she was vice premier in 2007. Su was premier at the time.
Yeh said it remains necessary to clarify if there had been any administrative irregularities.
The Control Yuan identified issues to be cleared up, including whether the use of the NDF for Yu Chang was in accordance with statutory procedures and whether Tsai abided by the conflict-of-interest policies set forth in the Civil Servants Work Act (公務員服務法) in her dealings with the case.
KMT Legislator Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) said she did not consider that a probe by the Control Yuan into the case necessary because “judicial review had brought it to an end.”
DPP Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) said the moves were driven by political motives.
“The SID has proved that Tsai was innocent and now the Control Yuan and the KMT want to drag Chairman Su down,” Tsai said.
A NT$39 receipt for two bottles of tea at a FamilyMart was among the NT$10 million (US $312,969) special prize winners in the January-February uniform invoice lottery. FamilyMart said that two NT$10 million-winning receipts were issued at its stores, as well as two NT$2 million grand prizes and three NT$200,000 first prizes. The two NT$10 million receipts were issued at stores in Pingtung County and Yilan County’s Dongshan Township (冬山). One winner spent just NT$39 on two bottles of tea, while another spent NT$80 on water, tea and coffee, the company said. Meanwhile, 7-Eleven reported three NT$10 million winners — in New Taipei
Considering that most countries issue more than five denominations of banknotes, the central bank has decided to redesign all five denominations, the bank said as it prepares for the first major overhaul of the banknotes in more than 24 years. Central bank Governor Yang Chin-lung (楊金龍) is expected to report to the Legislative Yuan today on the bank’s operations and the redesign’s progress. The bank in a report sent to the legislature ahead of today’s meeting said it had commissioned a survey on the public’s preferences. Survey results showed that NT$100 and NT$1,000 banknotes are the most commonly used, while NT$200 and NT$2,000
ANNUAL EVENT: Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in Daan Park, with an event zone operating from 10am to 6pm This year’s Taipei Floral Picnic is to be held at Daan Park today and tomorrow, featuring an exclusive Pokemon Go event, a themed food market, a coffee rave picnic area and stage performances, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said yesterday. Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in the park as attractions, with an exclusive event zone operating from 10am to 6pm, it said. Participants who complete designated tasks on-site would have a chance to receive limited-edition souvenirs, it added. People could also try the newly launched game Pokemon Pokopia in the trial area, the department said. Three PokeStops are
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported the first case of a new COVID-19 subvariant — BA.3.2 — in a 10-year-old Singaporean girl who had a fever upon arrival in Taiwan and tested positive for the disease. The girl left Taiwan on March 20 and the case did not have a direct impact on the local community, it said. The WHO added the BA.3.2 strain to its list of Variants Under Monitoring in December last year, but this was the first imported case of the COVID-19 variant in Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ming-cheng (林明誠) said. The girl arrived in Taiwan on