The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) yesterday accused New Taipei City (新北) Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) of potential corruption and his wife of receiving benefits from illegal public bids involving companies owned by her father.
The new accusations came one day after the TSU accused Chu and his father-in-law, Kao Yu-jen (高育仁), of violating the Act on Recusal of Public Servants Due to Conflicts of Interest (公務人員利益衝突迴避法) because the Kao family had secured government projects worth almost NT$1.2 billion (US$40 million) over the past 12 years while Chu served as Taoyuan County commissioner, vice premier and New Taipei City mayor.
According to the TSU, FiberLogic Communications, a technology firm that Kao established in 1999, won 12 government bids — including five limited tenders — totaling NT$1.18 billion between 2001 and last year, which could constitute a conflict of interest.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
Chu’s wife, Kao Wan-chien (高婉倩), has been a shareholder of FiberLogic and several companies that own FiberLogic stock for more than 10 years and served as supervisor for three shareholding companies, TSU Legislator Yeh Chin-ling (葉津鈴) said, citing a Control Yuan public servant property declaration report from 2012.
“Since Chu and his wife submitted the declaration together as spouses, Chu should have been aware of the investment. He could have also received benefits from those government bids as Kao Wan-ching’s husband,” TSU Secretary-General Lin Chih-chia (林志嘉) said.
Chu said yesterday that he would not tolerate anyone in his family making illegal profits, but neither did he want any family member to be falsely accused because of his job.
Chu stressed that his property declaration report had been scrutinized by the Control Yuan and the media, and called the TSU allegation a “cheap shot.”
He did not elaborate on his wife’s and his father-in-law’s shareholdings.
On Monday, the New Taipei City Government said that the TSU’s accusation was a political ploy because Lin Chih-chia is mulling entering the city’s mayoral election in November.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
RSS