The Taiwan High Court yesterday found Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) not guilty of embezzlement, although prosecutors can appeal the decision.
Ker, who was sentenced to six months in prison in earlier trials, was accused of falsifying a deal and pocketing NT$12 million (US$400,000) while general manager of Formosa Telecom in 1997.
Yesterday’s ruling said the NT$12 million was a loan from the company, that the company still claims the debt and its interests were not jeopardized by the loan.
In other news, the retrial for former Taiwan Sugar Corp (Taisugar) chairman Wu Nai-jen (吳乃仁) and former DPP legislator Hong Chi-chang (洪奇昌) began yesterday at the Taiwan High Court’s Greater Taichung branch.
Hong was sentenced on March 13 to two years and four months in prison, while Wu, a former DPP secretary-general, received a term of three years and 10 months after the Taichung branch upheld their conviction in a case involving the sale of property belonging to Taisugar in the then-Taichung County in 2003.
Wu was accused of giving in to Hong’s lobbying for Chun Lung Co, a property developer, to ensure that it won the right to purchase a plot of land it was renting from Taisugar. The court ruled that Wu had violated Taisugar’s “rent only” policy on its properties.
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