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 The case was closed and the wiretap approval rescinded on Sept. 5 when the SID confirmed that Ker had not been involved in the judges’ bribery case.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.
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
A classified Pentagon-produced, multiyear assessment — the Overmatch brief — highlighted unreported Chinese capabilities to destroy US military assets and identified US supply chain choke points, painting a disturbing picture of waning US military might, a New York Times editorial published on Monday said. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s comments in November last year that “we lose every time” in Pentagon-conducted war games pitting the US against China further highlighted the uncertainty about the US’ capability to intervene in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. “It shows the Pentagon’s overreliance on expensive, vulnerable weapons as adversaries field cheap, technologically
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
RSS