Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Yilan County Commissioner Lin Zi-miao (林姿妙) was yesterday questioned for a second time in an investigation into alleged corruption in the county government, the Yilan District Prosecutors’ Office said in a news release.
Lin and other unnamed individuals were being questioned as part of a joint investigation with the Ministry of Justice’s Agency Against Corruption, the statement said, without providing further details.
The announcement came hours after media reports said that the commissioner’s son, Lin You-tze (林佑澤), and daughter, Lin Yi-ling (林羿伶), were seen being led away by investigators.
Photo: CNA
Meanwhile, Lin Zi-miao was notably absent from a county government meeting, as were numerous other county officials, including Finance and Taxation Bureau Director Lu Tian-lung (盧天龍), Bureau of Agriculture Director Kang Li-ho (康立和) and Department of Transportation Director Huang Chih-liang (黃志良).
Yilan County Government Secretary-General Lin Mao-sheng (林茂盛) said that the commissioner had to attend to unexpected business of an undislosed nature.
Prosecutors on Jan. 13 named Lin Zi-miao as a suspect in a corruption case after searching her home and questioning about 30 people, including the commissioner.
The probe revolves around value-added tax exemptions granted in 2019 for a property in Luodong Township (羅東) and changes the following year to the township’s urban development plans.
Later on Jan. 13, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) said in a news release that prosecutors had twice searched Lin Zi-miao’s home without uncovering evidence, which breached the principle of proportionality and the rule of law.
The searches negatively affected the county government’s operations and sapped the morale of civil servants working hard to promote the interests of Yilan’s 450,000 residents, the KMT added.
Under the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the county government has mobilized the Control Yuan, prosecutors and police against the opposition party, it said, adding that law enforcement should not be incorporated into the ruling party’s election machinery.
The DPP should stop meddling in the legal system and render impartial justice to Taiwanese, the KMT added.
Additional reporting by CNA
Conflict with Taiwan could leave China with “massive economic disruption, catastrophic military losses, significant social unrest, and devastating sanctions,” a US think tank said in a report released on Monday. The German Marshall Fund released a report titled If China Attacks Taiwan: The Consequences for China of “Minor Conflict” and “Major War” Scenarios. The report details the “massive” economic, military, social and international costs to China in the event of a minor conflict or major war with Taiwan, estimating that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could sustain losses of more than half of its active-duty ground forces, including 100,000 troops. Understanding Chinese
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday said it is closely monitoring developments in Venezuela, and would continue to cooperate with democratic allies and work together for regional and global security, stability, and prosperity. The remarks came after the US on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who was later flown to New York along with his wife. The pair face US charges related to drug trafficking and alleged cooperation with gangs designated as terrorist organizations. Maduro has denied the allegations. The ministry said that it is closely monitoring the political and economic situation
UNRELENTING: China attempted cyberattacks on Taiwan’s critical infrastructure 2.63 million times per day last year, up from 1.23 million in 2023, the NSB said China’s cyberarmy has long engaged in cyberattacks against Taiwan’s critical infrastructure, employing diverse and evolving tactics, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday, adding that cyberattacks on critical energy infrastructure last year increased 10-fold compared with the previous year. The NSB yesterday released a report titled Analysis on China’s Cyber Threats to Taiwan’s Critical Infrastructure in 2025, outlining the number of cyberattacks, major tactics and hacker groups. Taiwan’s national intelligence community identified a large number of cybersecurity incidents last year, the bureau said in a statement. China’s cyberarmy last year launched an average of 2.63 million intrusion attempts per day targeting Taiwan’s critical
AGING: As of last month, people aged 65 or older accounted for 20.06 percent of the total population and the number of couples who got married fell by 18,685 from 2024 Taiwan has surpassed South Korea as the country least willing to have children, with an annual crude birthrate of 4.62 per 1,000 people, Ministry of the Interior data showed yesterday. The nation was previously ranked the second-lowest country in terms of total fertility rate, or the average number of children a woman has in her lifetime. However, South Korea’s fertility rate began to recover from 2023, with total fertility rate rising from 0.72 and estimated to reach 0.82 to 0.85 by last year, and the crude birthrate projected at 6.7 per 1,000 people. Japan’s crude birthrate was projected to fall below six,
RSS