President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) will testify before court if he is summoned for questioning over allegations that he received illicit political donations, Presidential Office spokesman Charles Chen (陳以信) said yesterday.
Ma has repeatedly denied the allegations and said he is confident of withstanding even the closest scrutiny, Chen said.
“People are obliged to take the stand, if necessary, and of course President Ma would cooperate with the investigation,” he said.
Photo: Chien Jung-feng, Taipei Times
Supreme Court Prosecutors’ Office Prosecutor-General Yen Da-ho (顏大和) on Wednesday said the need to question Ma would be contingent on what prosecutors discover during their investigation.
The Special Investigation Division (SID) in December last year began to investigate allegations by radio host Clara Chou (周玉蔻) that Ma accepted an off-the-book donation of NT$200 million (US$6.3 million) from Ting Hsin International Group (頂新國際) during his re-election campaign in 2012 and separate allegations by political commentator Chen Min-feng (陳敏鳳) that at least 12 telecommunications and electronics magnates clandestinely donated a total of NT$200 million to Ma in 2007.
Pundits and opposition politicians accused Ma of being a “guardian angel” for Ting Hsin when the company was under fire following food scandals last year, because he had received large political donations from it.
“It’s not a problem of the possibility [of Ma being questioned] being excluded or not,” Yen said, in response to media inquiries, after Presidential Office Director Kang Bing-cheng (康炳政), Taiwan Lottery Co (台灣彩券) chairman Hsueh Hsiang-chuan (薛香川), Helm Technology (翰門企業) chairman Ni Chi-hsi (倪集熙) and former New Micropore (新長豐) chairman Wang Kung-chan (王公展) were questioned by the SID.
All four were released after questioning on Wednesday.
Political commentator Yao Li-ming (姚立明) alleged that illicit donations offered to Ma at a dinner in 2007 were handed to Kang. Yao described Kang, who he said has worked for Ma since 1984, as “a treasurer for Ma” and the president’s close confidant.
Several people have been questioned over the allegations, including Taiwan Memory Co (台灣記憶體公司) chairman John Hsuan (宣明智), senior Ting Hsin executive Wei Ying-chun (魏應充), Siliconware Precision Industries (矽品精密) chairman Bough Lin (林文伯), former People First Party legislator Liu Wen-hsiung (劉文雄), then-First International Telecom Corp (大眾電信) president Charlie Wu (吳清源) and former Chinese National Party (KMT) Taipei mayoral candidate Sean Lien (連勝文).
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
AMENDMENT: Climate change is expected to increase the frequency of high-temperature days, affecting economic productivity and public health, experts said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) is considering amending the Meteorological Act (氣象法) to classify “high temperatures” as “hazardous weather,” providing a legal basis for work or school closures due to extreme heat. CWA Administrator Lu Kuo-chen (呂國臣) yesterday said the agency plans to submit the proposed amendments to the Executive Yuan for review in the fourth quarter this year. The CWA has been monitoring high-temperature trends for an extended period, and the agency contributes scientific data to the recently established High Temperature Response Alliance led by the Ministry of Environment, Lu said. The data include temperature, humidity, radiation intensity and ambient wind,
SECOND SPEECH: All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist the CCP, despite their differences, the president said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday discussed how pro-Taiwan and pro-Republic of China (ROC) groups can agree to maintain solidarity on the issue of protecting Taiwan and resisting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The talk, delivered last night at Taoyuan’s Hakka Youth Association, was the second in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. Citing Taiwanese democracy pioneer Chiang Wei-shui’s (蔣渭水) slogan that solidarity brings strength, Lai said it was a call for political parties to find consensus amid disagreements on behalf of bettering the nation. All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist