Chen Tien-fu (陳天福), a businessman and cousin of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), was arrested Thursday on forgery charges and released on bail, sources from the Taipei District Court said yesterday.
Chen, 43, was arrested at Chiang Kai-shek Airport late on Thursday night upon returning to Taiwan from China. He was handed over to the Taipei District Court, where he was released on NT$200,000 bail by Taipei judges yesterday morning.
Chen said he had been in China doing business for the last several years, and that he was unaware that he was wanted by police in Taiwan. He said he returned on Thursday in order to visit his mother.
The president's cousin -- who was indicted last year on charges of forging the president's signature in an attempted lawsuit against the former Taipei mayor in a lottery business case -- appealed to Taipei judges yesterday to lift a ban on his leaving the country. Chen said he needed to return to China to attend to business there.
Taipei judges said Chen was declared wanted after he failed to appear before court on a subpoena three times since December 1997.
Chen lodged a lawsuit against Chen Shui-bian last year before the presidential election, accusing the DPP candidate of signing documents during his tenure as Taipei mayor so as to enable an international lottery company to win a contract for a prospective business in Taipei City.
Chen was later charged with forging his cousin's signature and also related documents.
At the Taipei District Court, Chen said he hopes that he will be invited by the president and his wife to attend their daughter's wedding to be held later this year. He would also like an opportunity to explain himself and to help resolve any misunderstandings between himself and the president.
The Chien Feng IV (勁蜂, Mighty Hornet) loitering munition is on track to enter flight tests next month in connection with potential adoption by Taiwanese and US armed forces, a government source said yesterday. The kamikaze drone, which boasts a range of 1,000km, debuted at the Taipei Aerospace and Defense Technology Exhibition in September, the official said on condition of anonymity. The Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology and US-based Kratos Defense jointly developed the platform by leveraging the engine and airframe of the latter’s MQM-178 Firejet target drone, they said. The uncrewed aerial vehicle is designed to utilize an artificial intelligence computer
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday decided to shelve proposed legislation that would give elected officials full control over their stipends, saying it would wait for a consensus to be reached before acting. KMT Legislator Chen Yu-jen (陳玉珍) last week proposed amendments to the Organic Act of the Legislative Yuan (立法院組織法) and the Regulations on Allowances for Elected Representatives and Subsidies for Village Chiefs (地方民意代表費用支給及村里長事務補助費補助條例), which would give legislators and councilors the freedom to use their allowances without providing invoices for reimbursement. The proposal immediately drew criticism, amid reports that several legislators face possible charges of embezzling fees intended to pay
REQUIREMENTS: The US defense secretary must submit a Taiwan security assistance road map and an appraisal of Washington’s ability to respond to Indo-Pacific conflict The US Congress has released a new draft of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which includes up to US$1 billion in funding for Taiwan-related security cooperation next year. The version published on Sunday by US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson removed earlier language that would have invited Taiwan to participate in the US-led Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC). A statement on Johnson’s Web page said the NDAA “enhances U.S. defense initiatives in the Indo-Pacific to bolster Taiwan’s defense and support Indo-Pacific allies.” The bill would require the US secretary of defense to “enable fielding of uncrewed and anti-uncrewed systems capabilities”
Renewed border fighting between Thailand and Cambodia showed no signs of abating yesterday, leaving hundreds of thousands of displaced people in both countries living in strained conditions as more flooded into temporary shelters. Reporters on the Thai side of the border heard sounds of outgoing, indirect fire yesterday. About 400,000 people have been evacuated from affected areas in Thailand and about 700 schools closed while fighting was ongoing in four border provinces, said Thai Rear Admiral Surasant Kongsiri, a spokesman for the military. Cambodia evacuated more than 127,000 villagers and closed hundreds of schools, the Thai Ministry of Defense said. Thailand’s military announced that
RSS