The Ministry of Justice said yesterday it had requested three times that Chinese authorities repatriate fugitive tycoon Chen Yu-hao (陳由豪), but to no avail, adding that it will keep trying.
The Chinese-language Apple Daily reported yesterday that former Tuntex Group chairman Chen Yu-hao (陳由豪), who was indicted in late 2003 on suspicion of embezzling NT$800 million (US$27 million) from his firm and fleeing to China, appeared on Thursday at a luxury restaurant financed by himself in Xiamen City, in China’s Fujian Province, where he treated about 50 former colleagues from National Taiwan University’s Economics Department to a banquet.
Approached by the Apple Daily for an interview, Chen reportedly said: “I am a person on [Taiwan’s] wanted list. I cannot be interviewed.”
According to the Apple Daily report, Chen’s 50 former colleagues formed a group to travel around China’s Yunnan and Sichuan provinces. Before leaving China, they stopped in Xiamen Province and were treated to Chen’s banquet.
The ministry said that since Taiwan and China signed an agreement to combat crime in April 2009, it had asked Chinese authorities to repatriate Chen in August 2009, September 2010 and May of this year, but without success.
The ministry added that Chen — who is doing business in China — does not shy away from making public appearances and so it should be easy for Chinese authorities to locate him.
The ministry has been criticized for being unable to repatriate Taiwanese fugitives from China such as Chen, former An Feng Group president Chu An-hsiung (朱安雄), former Kuangsan Enterprise Group president Tseng Cheng-jen (曾正仁) and former legislative speaker Liu Sung-fan (劉松藩).
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central