Keelung City Council Speaker Huang Ching-tai (黃景泰) was released on bail of NT$2 million (US$66,650) yesterday afternoon by the Keelung District Court after the Taiwan High Court a day earlier ordered the district court to reconsider its previous decision to release him on bail.
The Keelung District Prosecutors’ Office asked on Wednesday that Huang be detained on suspicion of influence peddling in a number of construction projects, while the district court on Thursday morning ruled that Huang be released on bail of NT$1.2 million, but barred him from traveling overseas.
After prosecutors appealed the ruling with the Taiwan High Court, the High Court on Thursday ordered the district court to reconsider whether to detain Huang, adding that Huang has not cleared up the source of NT$5 million in cash that was found in his office by investigators.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
Huang made six telephone calls and sent two text messages to a woman surnamed Chang (張) while investigators were searching his office, suggesting he might conspire on statements if he is set free, the High Court said.
The district court held a hearing at 11am yesterday and announced at 5pm that Huang was to be released on NT$2 million bail.
The district prosecutors’ office immediately appealed the decision with the High Court for the second time.
Huang, a member of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), was questioned by prosecutors on suspicion of involvement in pressuring Keelung City Government officials on construction projects.
The prosecutors on Tuesday found stashes of cash in New Taiwan dollars and Chinese renminbi with an estimated total value of NT$5 million in Huang’s office.
In other news, former Chiayi County council speaker Yu Cheng-tah (余政達) was placed on the wanted list yesterday by the Chiayi District Prosecutors’ Office after he failed to report to the office to serve a prison term.
The warrant will remain in effect for 50 years, until 2064.
The 53-year-old’s guilty verdict, for soliciting a bribe of NT$1 million from local businessmen in 2007 when the county organized street fairs for the Taiwan Lantern Festival, was upheld by the Supreme Court on May 22.
In the final verdict on the case, the Supreme Court gave Yu a prison sentence of 10 years and four months, and suspended his civil rights for five years.
Yu was reported missing right after the Supreme Court’s announcement was made.
The office said it issued a warrant ordering Yu, an independent, to turn himself in on June 6 to start his sentence, but Yu failed to arrive at the office.
The office suspected that Yu might have fled to China or another country.
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