The Taichung District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday took four people into custody for questioning in relation to a judicial investigation into allegations of vote-buying in Aboriginal constituencies in the recently concluded election campaign.
Prosecutors said the four are suspected vote-brokers who acted on behalf of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Aboriginal Legislator Chien Tung-ming (簡東明).
Chien, 64, is from Pingtung County’s Paiwan community. He also goes by his Paiwan name, Uliw Qaljupayare.
Chien first represented the KMT after he won an Aboriginal legislator seat in 2008, but there were vote-buying charges and judicial proceedings against him arising from that election.
After the 2008 poll, Chien, his wife, the director of his campaign office and several vote-brokers working for Chien, were indicted on vote-buying charges and other election violations.
Authorities seized NT$4.2 million (US$124,165 at current exchange rates) — which was allegedly used for vote-buying — from Chien’s residence. Three people associated with buying votes for Chien were found guilty and given prison terms in 2012, but Chien denied association with the trio and was later found not guilty by the Taiwan High Court in 2013.
In the current investigation, Taichung prosecutors said they received reports on Jan. 3 that vote-brokers were paying NT$300 to voters in mountain villages in Taichung’s Taiping District (太平), most of whom were Bunun Aboriginals.
The four suspects are all Bunun from Taiping District (太平).
Investigators said a suspect allegedly took NT$100,000 and distributed the money to the three vote-brokers in question, and allegedly paid out NT$300 to Aboriginal residents while instructing them to vote for Chien.
Prosecutors said that a number of village residents in the region had admitted to receiving NT$300 in exchange for their votes, and a judicial investigation is being broadened to question more witnesses and other suspects.
In the Aboriginal legislator contest for mountain constituencies, Chien and his KMT colleague Kung Weh-chih (孔文吉) won two of the three seats being contested by 10 candidates. The other seat went to May Chin (高金素梅), who ran as a member for the Non-Partisan Solidarity Union.
For the lowland Aboriginal constituencies, there were also three seats up for grabs. The Democratic Progressive Party’s Chen Ying (陳瑩), along with two KMT members — Liao Kuo-tung (廖國棟) and Cheng Tien-tsai (鄭天財) — won those races.
FUKUOKA SITUATION: Japanese media reported that the pathogen is expected to be identified by the summer, while the CDC downplayed the idea that it was hMPV A “mysterious cold-like illness” reported in Japan’s Fukuoka Prefecture does not seem to be a new disease, but Japanese authorities have been asked about the situation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. The Fukuoka Prefectural Medical Association on Wednesday told a news conference that a “mystery cold” that has become a hot topic on social media is “highly likely to be caused by some kind of viral infection,” Japan’s KBC News reported. “Many people are experiencing symptoms starting with a sore throat, followed by a runny nose, phlegm and a severe cough,” KBC News reported, citing association officials. Health authorities are
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) arrived in Taiwan yesterday ahead of upcoming AI and technology events, saying he plans to meet with clients and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) during his visit. After landing at Taipei Songshan Airport, Huang posed for photos with fans and handed out Yakult drinks to reporters and supporters waiting at the scene, saying he has “a lot to do” during the trip. Asked about reports that Nvidia’s planned headquarters site in Taipei’s Beitou Shilin Technology Park could break ground on May 27, Huang said that if the company holds an event, he would
Carrefour Taiwan is to begin using a new name from the start of July, but it cannot divulge the name until then, the chairman of the supermarket chain's parent company said today. President Chain Store Co chairman Lo Chih-hsien (羅智先) was asked by reporters after a shareholders' meeting to confirm whether the company has settled on a new name for the supermarket brand. In March, the government-registered name of two Carrefour Taiwan branches was quietly changed to "Le Chia Kang" (樂家康) in Chinese, raising speculation that has been selected as the name. Lo said that because of local regulations and contractual obligations, the
The Philippines would likely be involved in any conflict over Taiwan due to its proximity to the democracy claimed by China, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said, reiterating a stance that risks angering Beijing. “In the Philippines, we do not have a choice because Taiwan is so close to the Philippines and we have almost 200,000 Filipino nationals living and working in Taiwan,” Marcos said in an interview with Japanese media in Manila on Monday. The Philippine leader’s comments come ahead of a state visit to Japan next week, where he is to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to discuss security
RSS