Former Academia Sinica president Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲) yesterday added his voice to criticism of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) actions against Legislative Yuan Speaker Wan Jin-pyng (王金平), saying it was disappointing to see Ma’s features “constantly distorted by hate.”
On Aug. 30 Special Investigation Division (SID) Prosecutor-General Huang Shih-ming (黃世銘) informed Ma of alleged influence peddling involving Wang, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus convener Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘), former minister of justice Tseng Yung-fu (曾勇夫), High Prosecutors’ Office Head Prosecutor Chen Shou-huang (陳守煌) and High Prosecutors’ Office prosecutor Lin Shiow-tao (林秀濤).
Speaking at a seminar organized by Taiwan Brain Trust yesterday, Lee said the judiciary system needed reform.
Ma’s handling of the current crisis was not appropriate, Lee said.
The situation involved two different investigations, one in which Ker was sentenced to six months in prison for breach of trust and violating the Business Accounting Act (商業會計法), and the other where Ker was suspected of having accepted bribes and peddling influence in a 2010 High Court judges’ bribery case.
The Taipei District Court gave the SID, then looking into the bribery case, permission to wiretap Ker in 2010. The case was closed and the wiretap approval rescinded on Sept. 5 when the SID confirmed that Ker had not been involved in the judges’ bribery case.
The Supreme Court handed back the breach of trust case for retrial earlier this year, recommending Ker be found “not guilty,” but during the wiretap period the SID recorded a conversation between Wang and Ker in which Ker said he hoped the prosecutors would not continue litigation, and Wang replied that Tseng would take care of it.
Tseng tendered his resignation on Saturday.
On Monday Ma accused Wang of peddling his influence and said he had brought “shame on Taiwan’s judiciary and democratic history.” Yesterday he added that “Wang was no longer fit to carry on as Legislative Speaker.”
Commenting on Ma’s “uncharacteristically” tough line and active participation in the matter, Lee said, “I hope that our president can maintain his customary smile, and take us to a greater future, instead of wearing a face distorted by hate all the time.”
Lee also said that the Taiwanese public still believed in what Ma can achieve and still had hope, but also added that Ma’s recent record was very disappointing.
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
An SOS message in a bottle has been found in Ireland that is believed to have come from the Taiwanese captain of fishing vessel Yong Yu Sing No. 18 (永裕興18號), who has been missing without a trace for over four years, along with nine Indonesian crew members. The vessel, registered to Suao (蘇澳), went missing near Hawaii on Dec. 30, 2020. The ship has since been recovered, but the 10 crew members have never been found. The captain, surnamed Lee (李), is believed to have signed the note with his name. A post appeared on Reddit on Tuesday after a man
Instead of threatening tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, the US should try to reinforce cooperation with Taiwan on semiconductor development to take on challenges from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), a Taiwanese think tank said. The administration of US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose across-the-board import duties of 32 percent on Taiwan-made goods and levy a separate tariff on semiconductors, which Taiwan is hoping to avoid. The Research Institute for Democracy, Society, and Emerging Technology (DSET), a National Science and Technology Council think tank, said that US efforts should focus on containing China’s semiconductor rise rather than impairing Taiwan. “Without
RSS