Prosecutor-General Huang Shih-ming (黃世銘) should be immediately suspended and placed under investigation while the Taipei Prosecutors’ Office processes accusations that Huang was party to illegal practices in the influence-peddling case involving several government officials, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus said yesterday.
Civic groups and former deputy minister of justice Lee Chin-yung (李進勇) on Monday filed lawsuits against Huang and the Special Investigation Division (SID), accusing him of violating the Communication Security and Surveillance Act (通訊保障及監察法), the Personal Information Protection Act (個人資料保護法) and the Civil Servant Service Act (公務人員服務法) and leaking information, DPP Legislator Gao Jyh-peng (高志鵬) told a news conference.
“If Huang, the head of the prosecutorial system, is not suspended immediately pending further investigation, it will be difficult for prosecutors to probe the allegations against him,” Gao said.
Photo: Mandy Cheng, AFP
The division on Friday accused Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), former minister of justice Tseng Yung-fu (曾勇夫) and High Prosecutors’ Office Head Prosecutor Chen Shou-huang (陳守煌) of influence peddling on behalf of DPP Legislator Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) in a breach of trust case against Ker.
The probe has sparked widespread public debate about politicians’ lobbying activities and condemnation from many who say amounted to a political persecution against Wang.
Tseng subsequently announced his resignation, but maintained that he is innocent.
Wiretapping Ker’s mobile phone — which is how the SID reportedly discovered the officials’ alleged misconduct — and the decision to announce the case while Wang was out of the country showed that the investigation is a politically motivated affair in which Huang is playing the role of a thug hired by politicians, DPP Legislator Wu Ping-jui (吳秉叡) said.
Ker again extended his apologies to Wang, a close friend of his, for “dragging him into the political storm.”
He declined to comment on media reports about Deputy Legislative Speaker Hung Hsiu-chu’s (洪秀柱) possible nomination as Wang’s replacement.
Separately, DPP lawmaker Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) called on President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to resign as KMT chairman because he had interfered with congressional affairs in his capacity as party leader.
“Not only did Ma launch a political vendetta against Wang, the president also hinted at possible candidates for a new legislative speaker. These actions violate the principle of separation of powers,” Cheng said.
Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) has also made comments that were unconstitutional, DPP Legislator Chen Ming-wen (陳明文) said in a press release.
Jiang was quoted by media as saying that it would be “inappropriate” for Wang to retain his post as legislative speaker amid the scandal.
The premier’s comment infringed on the legislature’s autonomy and violated the separation of powers, Chen Shou-huang said, adding that Jiang should apologize for his remarks.
Two US House of Representatives committees yesterday condemned China’s attempt to orchestrate a crash involving Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim’s (蕭美琴) car when she visited the Czech Republic last year as vice president-elect. Czech local media in March last year reported that a Chinese diplomat had run a red light while following Hsiao’s car from the airport, and Czech intelligence last week told local media that Chinese diplomats and agents had also planned to stage a demonstrative car collision. Hsiao on Saturday shared a Reuters news report on the incident through her account on social media platform X and wrote: “I
‘BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS’: The US military’s aim is to continue to make any potential Chinese invasion more difficult than it already is, US General Ronald Clark said The likelihood of China invading Taiwan without contest is “very, very small” because the Taiwan Strait is under constant surveillance by multiple countries, a US general has said. General Ronald Clark, commanding officer of US Army Pacific (USARPAC), the US Army’s largest service component command, made the remarks during a dialogue hosted on Friday by Washington-based think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Asked by the event host what the Chinese military has learned from its US counterpart over the years, Clark said that the first lesson is that the skill and will of US service members are “unmatched.” The second
STANDING TOGETHER: Amid China’s increasingly aggressive activities, nations must join forces in detecting and dealing with incursions, a Taiwanese official said Two senior Philippine officials and one former official yesterday attended the Taiwan International Ocean Forum in Taipei, the first high-level visit since the Philippines in April lifted a ban on such travel to Taiwan. The Ocean Affairs Council hosted the two-day event at the National Taiwan University Hospital International Convention Center. Philippine Navy spokesman Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, Coast Guard spokesman Grand Commodore Jay Tarriela and former Philippine Presidential Communications Office assistant secretary Michel del Rosario participated in the forum. More than 100 officials, experts and entrepreneurs from 15 nations participated in the forum, which included discussions on countering China’s hybrid warfare
MORE DEMOCRACY: The only solution to Taiwan’s current democratic issues involves more democracy, including Constitutional Court rulings and citizens exercising their civil rights , Lai said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is not the “motherland” of the Republic of China (ROC) and has never owned Taiwan, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday. The speech was the third in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to deliver across Taiwan. Taiwan is facing external threats from China, Lai said at a Lions Clubs International banquet in Hsinchu. For example, on June 21 the army detected 12 Chinese aircraft, eight of which entered Taiwanese waters, as well as six Chinese warships that remained in the waters around Taiwan, he said. Beyond military and political intimidation, Taiwan
RSS