Senior Taoyuan County officials who have been implicated in five corruption and bribery cases over the past three years might deal a severe blow to Taoyuan County Commissioner John Wu’s (吳志揚) re-election bid in November, political observers said.
The county is set to be upgraded to a special municipality in December.
In the latest case, Yeh Shi-wen (葉世文) has been dismissed from his position as County deputy commissioner with immediate effect over his suspected involvement in a corruption case, the county government announced on Friday.
Photo: CNA
Wu assumed the post as Taoyuan county commissioner four years ago and has been known for his amiable style, which is in stark contrast to the strict style of his predecessor, New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫).
When Chu was commissioner, he took pre-emptive action to deal with allegations of corruption and bribery against members of his administrative team to try to prevent any backlash on the county government.
Before prosecutors and investigators became involved, Chu demanded the resignation of any senior officials implicated in corruption scandals.
Wu, on the other hand, was not aware until Friday, when law enforcement authorities arrived with a warrant, that Yeh was suspected of involvement in corruption.
Yeh has been held in custody over allegations of bribery involving Farglory Land Development Co chairman Chao Teng-hsiung (趙藤雄).
Prosecutors reportedly seized NT$17 million (US$565,000) in cash during a raid of Yeh’s residence and office.
Some of the money was allegedly obtained as bribe money from Farglory Land Development to award the company a county government affordable housing project.
Although Wu took quick action in removing Yeh from his job on Friday, the series of corruption cases involving local government officials has hurt the image of the county government, observers said.
Although Wu a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) member holds a significant lead in the opinion polls over the Democratic Progressive Party’s candidate, Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦), the KMT cannot afford to ignore the effects of the case on the election, political observers said.
The key lies in the county government’s response to the incidents.
A KMT source said that the matter would do little damage to Wu’s campaign because Yeh was deputy county commissioner for one year only and has no particular connection with Wu.
Others believe the case will have some impact on the election, to Cheng’s benefit.
Wu is scheduled to release today, earlier than planned, the results of a county government probe into the allegations that Yeh accepted bribes from Chao.
Wu’s original timing was to deliver his public statement on the results of the investigation after the Dragon Boat Festival holiday.
Now, the statement is likely to be made this afternoon, a county government official said.
Wu canceled all public appointments over the weekend and is supervising a screening of all public construction project bids involving Yeh during his nearly one-year tenure with the county, local government officials said yesterday.
Separately yesterday, former DPP premier Yu Shyi-kun (游錫堃), who is running in the New Taipei mayoral election, said he had doubts about Yeh’s integrity when Yu served as premier.
Yu said that in 2002, he removed Yeh from his position as director of the Taroko National Park after Yeh was suspected of granting illegal permission to property development on Hehuan Mountain.
“I wonder why those officials who were deemed incompetent during the DPP administration [between 2000 and 2008] were either promoted or rehired under the Ma administration,” Yu said on the sidelines of an activity in Yilan County.
Additional reporting by Chris Wang
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
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
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
The National Museum of Taiwan Literature is next month to hold an exhibition in Osaka, Japan, showcasing the rich and unique history of Taiwanese folklore and literature. The exhibition, which is to run from Aug. 10 to Aug. 20 at the city’s Central Public Hall, is part of the “We Taiwan” at Expo 2025 series, highlighting Taiwan’s cultural ties with the international community, National Museum of Taiwan Literature director Chen Ying-fang (陳瑩芳) said. Folklore and literature, among Taiwan’s richest cultural heritages, naturally deserve a central place in the global dialogue, Chen said. Taiwan’s folklore would be immediately apparent at the entrance of the
RSS