Hong Kong media tycoon Lam Por Yen (
Lam, former chairman of Asia Television Ltd and chairman of the Lai Sun Group, was given a two-year prison sentence for bribery but was acquitted of money laundering. He was previously sentenced to three years and two months in prison on the two charges by the Taipei District Court last February.
Lam, who left Taiwan on a bail of NT$40 million following the February ruling, did not attend court yesterday.
On the charge of bribery, the High Court reasoned Lam's sentence should be reduced on the grounds that he had made a full confession.
To encourage disclosure of public corruption, anyone convicted of giving bribes to a public official may have their punishment reduced if they confess during investigations or a trial.
Also, Chuang Yu-kun (
Having been detained for over three years, Chuang made another request for bail in court yesterday, but was again refused. He said he will appeal again.
The court found Lam guilty of bribing Chuang in exchange for preferential treatment in a land deal on an aborted construction scheme at Taipei University in Sanhsia (
In addition to being convicted of malfeasance for accepting the bribe from Lam, Chuang was also found guilty of taking bribes from land owners who had sought Chuang's favor in approving the zoning of their land in Sanchih (
With his close connections to politicians and businessmen in Hong Kong and Taiwan, Lam's case made headlines in both places when it broke in December 1997.
Lam was arrested by police at CKS airport after coming to Taiwan from Hong Kong for the Golden Horse movie awards.
South Korea has adjusted its electronic arrival card system to no longer list Taiwan as a part of China, a move that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said would help facilitate exchanges between the two sides. South Korea previously listed “Taiwan” as “Taiwan (China)” in the drop-down menus of its online arrival card system, where people had to fill out where they came from and their next destination. The ministry had requested South Korea make a revision and said it would change South Korea’s name on Taiwan’s online immigration system from “Republic of Korea” to “Korea (South),” should the issue not be
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
Both sides of the Taiwan Strait share a political foundation based on the “1992 consensus” and opposition to Taiwanese independence, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) today said during her meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Both sides of the Strait should plan and build institutionalized and sustainable mechanisms for dialogue and cooperation based on that foundation to make peaceful development across the Strait irreversible, she said. Peace is a shared moral value across the Strait, and both sides should move beyond political confrontation to seek institutionalized solutions to prevent war, she said. Mutually beneficial cross-strait relations are what the
ECONOMIC COERCION: Such actions are often inconsistently applied, sometimes resumed, and sometimes just halted, the Presidential Office spokeswoman said The government backs healthy and orderly cross-strait exchanges, but such arrangements should not be made with political conditions attached and never be used as leverage for political maneuvering or partisan agendas, Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said yesterday. Kuo made the remarks after China earlier in the day announced 10 new “incentive measures” for Taiwan, following a landmark meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) in Beijing on Friday. The measures, unveiled by China’s Xinhua news agency, include plans to resume individual travel by residents of Shanghai and China’s Fujian
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