New Power Party (NPP) Legislator Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) yesterday said the Ministry of Justice had neglected its duty after 20 Taiwanese detained by the Malaysian government sent to Taiwan on Friday night were released on arrival.
Hsu accused the ministry of “deliberately taking zero action to collect evidence and misleading the public” into believing that fraud suspects — as Beijing had claimed — are not duly punished in Taiwan.
“Why is it that the ministry did not proactively collect evidence from Malaysian authorities from the beginning? This is not the first time that we have had this kind of case. Is ‘letting the suspects get away easily’ a reputation actually created by the ministry’s repeated passive reactions?” Hsu asked.
Malaysian authorities gave the evidence to Chinese authorities, Hsu said.
The ministry contacted its Chinese counterpart over the case, but failed to request that Chinese authorities give the required evidence to the ministry, which is a serious dereliction of duty, Hsu said.
The party caucus also said in a statement that the ministry needs to expound on whether it has asked for information and evidence from Malaysian and Chinese authorities, and if not, why.
“As a responsible member of the international community, Taiwan’s top priority is to engage in effective and substantive judicial cooperation on the condition that the country’s judicial sovereignty is respected,” the statement said.
“The recent forced deportation of Taiwanese to China, and the inability of our related authorities to obtain relevant evidence have accentuated the country’s inadequacies in international judicial cooperation and domestic law enforcement,” it added.
Separately yesterday, Executive Yuan spokesperson Sun Lih-chyun (孫立群) said Premier Simon Chang (張善政) on Friday ordered the ministry to gather the relevant information “via [its] channels” to launch an investigation, which the ministry did after it was known that the 20 Taiwanese were to be deported to Taiwan.
The Criminal Investigation Bureau had already asked Chinese authorities to provide relevant documents, Sun added.
The NPP also accused the government of failing to coordinate with China.
“We would like to ask the Ministry of Justice if it requested that Malaysia and China forward any relevant documents?” the statement said. “If it has not, why not?”
The caucus urged the judiciary to more aggressively cooperate with other nations fighting transnational criminal organizations.
“Based on recent incidents in which Taiwanese suspects were taken away by force and in which relevant documents were unable to be sent to Taiwan, we would say that there is still much to be done,” the NPP said.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
Taiwan sweltered through its hottest October on record, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, the latest in a string of global temperature records. The main island endured its highest average temperature since 1950, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng said. Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as human-induced climate change contributes to ever more erratic weather patterns. Taiwan’s average temperature was 27.381°C as of Thursday, Liu said. Liu said the average could slip 0.1°C by the end of yesterday, but it would still be higher than the previous record of 27.009°C in 2016. "The temperature only started lowering around Oct. 18 or 19
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
RSS