The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday summoned witnesses in cases involving alleged fraud and embezzlement that implicate social activist and former chief executive of alternative media outlet Watchout Co Liulin Wei (柳林瑋).
Liulin was accused by the Citizen 1985 Alliance of having misappropriated funds to the tune of NT$300,000 (US$9,693) that it raised from donations to a social movement calling for justice following the death of 24-year-old army Corporal Hung Chung-chiu (洪仲丘) in 2013.
Hung died of heatstroke after being forced to do strenuous exercise in a confinement facility.
The death raised questions of human rights violations in the military, sparked mass protests, led to the prosecution of several military officials and was the catalyst for major legal reforms.
Citizen 1985 on Wednesday took legal action against Liulin, one of the activist organization’s founders, accusing him of raising funds in the name of the alliance without authorization and then seizing the funds for personal use.
Watchout dismissed Liulin on Friday last week after discovering that he had remitted NT$2 million of public money to his personal bank account without authorization.
According to Watchout, Liulin had remitted the funds back to the company’s bank account and confessed that he had made a major financial mistake.
Taipei district prosecutors summoned Watchout spokesperson Lin Tzu-yi (林祖儀) and two other company executives for questioning yesterday.
Lin told reporters after the questioning that the prosecutors had asked them about 20 questions, ranging from the reason Watchout was established and the company’s financial sources to details of how the company’s funds were used.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it