The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday questioned 14 New Taipei City borough wardens and other residents for allegedly taking a Beijing-funded trip in exchange for supporting political candidates favored by China in next month’s elections.
A New Taipei City borough warden surnamed Hsu (許) and a businesswoman surnamed Chen (陳) were questioned about alleged contraventions of the Anti-Infiltration Act (反滲透法), the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act (總統副總統選舉罷免法) and the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), the office said.
They were each released on bail of NT$500,00, it said.
Photo: Wang Ting-chuan, Taipei Times
The duo is accused of arranging a free trip for wardens from Nov. 21 to 24 in China’s Jiangsu Province at the behest of local Taiwan affairs officials, it said.
The scheme targeted wardens in New Taipei City’s Tucheng (土城), Jhonghe (中和), Yonghe (永和), Banciao (板橋) and Shulin (樹林) districts, the office said, adding that they were either Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) members or political independents.
About 10 wardens and the same number of their friends and family went on the trip, with the former paying nothing and the latter paying only for airplane tickets, it said.
Hsu, Chen and Chinese officials told members of the tour group during banquets which political party they should support, the office said.
The other wardens were questioned about taking a bribe for their vote and allegedly breaching the Criminal Code. They were released with travel restrictions, except for a warden surnamed Chu (朱), who was released on NT$30,000 bail, the office said.
Meanwhile, the Keelung District Court yesterday approved the pretrial detention of Wu Shih-chin (吳石金), a Keelung borough warden, the first warden to be held in pretrial detention in connection with China’s alleged trips-for-votes scheme.
Wu faces indictments on charges related to breaching the Anti-Infiltration Act and election laws.
Yesterday’s hearing was the third time the issue of Wu’s detention was heard at the court, after its previous decisions were overturned.
The latest ruling represented a reversal from the court’s second ruling to release Wu on NT$50,000 bail.
Wu had been to China six times and deleted the chat history on his smartphone, showing that he would present a flight risk and there was the danger of evidence tampering were he to be released, the presiding judge said.
The warden of Siaogang Borough (孝岡) in Keelung’s Sinyi District (信義), Wu is accused of leading 12 wardens and 11 other people on a Beijing-funded tour of China’s Shandong Province from Nov. 21 to 26, the Keelung District Prosecutors’ Office said.
Members of the tour group paid a token fee of NT$5,500 and each received 1,000 yuan (US$141) in cash upon their arrival, the office said, adding that Chinese officials urged them to vote for the KMT throughout the trip.
In his National Day Rally speech on Sunday, Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) quoted the Taiwanese song One Small Umbrella (一支小雨傘) to describe his nation’s situation. Wong’s use of such a song shows Singapore’s familiarity with Taiwan’s culture and is a perfect reflection of exchanges between the two nations, Representative to Singapore Tung Chen-yuan (童振源) said yesterday in a post on Facebook. Wong quoted the song, saying: “As the rain gets heavier, I will take care of you, and you,” in Mandarin, using it as a metaphor for Singaporeans coming together to face challenges. Other Singaporean politicians have also used Taiwanese songs
NORTHERN STRIKE: Taiwanese military personnel have been training ‘in strategic and tactical battle operations’ in Michigan, a former US diplomat said More than 500 Taiwanese troops participated in this year’s Northern Strike military exercise held at Lake Michigan by the US, a Pentagon-run news outlet reported yesterday. The Michigan National Guard-sponsored drill involved 7,500 military personnel from 36 nations and territories around the world, the Stars and Stripes said. This year’s edition of Northern Strike, which concluded on Sunday, simulated a war in the Indo-Pacific region in a departure from its traditional European focus, it said. The change indicated a greater shift in the US armed forces’ attention to a potential conflict in Asia, it added. Citing a briefing by a Michigan National Guard senior
CHIPMAKING INVESTMENT: J.W. Kuo told legislators that Department of Investment Review approval would be needed were Washington to seek a TSMC board seat Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) yesterday said he received information about a possible US government investment in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and an assessment of the possible effect on the firm requires further discussion. If the US were to invest in TSMC, the plan would need to be reviewed by the Department of Investment Review, Kuo told reporters ahead of a hearing of the legislature’s Economics Committee. Kuo’s remarks came after US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Tuesday said that the US government is looking into the federal government taking equity stakes in computer chip manufacturers that
US President Donald Trump on Friday said that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) told him China would not invade Taiwan while Trump is in office. Trump made the remarks in an interview with Fox News, ahead of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. “I will tell you, you know, you have a very similar thing with President Xi of China and Taiwan, but I don’t believe there’s any way it’s going to happen as long as I’m here. We’ll see,” Trump said during an interview on Fox News’ Special Report. “He told me: ‘I will never do
RSS