Taichung prosecutors yesterday detained four vote captains for Chen Yung-yuan (
Chen's wife, Chung Man (鐘滿), sister Chen Shu-hua (陳淑華), brother-in-law Yang Shu-tung (楊旭東) and friend Wang Tsai-chang (王在璋) were arrested late Friday night, as were two other friends of Chen, Chung Shun-sheng (鐘順盛) and Wu Chi-chia (吳志嘉). They were each arrested separately at either their homes or offices, where investigators found tea and coffee presses that they allege were to be given away to voters as bribes.
Chung Man, Chen Shu-hua, Yang and Wang were detained after being interviewed by prosecutors.
Chung Shun-sheng and Wu were released on bail of NT$20,000 and NT$10,000, respectively, with the condition that they remain in Taichung.
A tea or coffee press is a jug-like vessel with a lid incorporating a push-down mechanism for confining coffee granules or tea leaves to its bottom for the purpose of brewing tea or coffee.
"We received corroborated information from informants saying that Chen asked his wife, his sister, his brother-in-law and his friends to help him distribute these tea presses to voters as gifts and to ask for the voters' support for his campaign," said Tu Ta-jan (
"Prosecutors Lee Bin (李斌), Yang Wen-kuang (楊文廣) and Chen Sung-chi (陳松吉) and police officers from Taichung City Police Headquarters were divided into six teams to raid, with search warrants, six different locations -- the vote-captains' residences or offices in Taichung City.
As well as the tea presses, which were wrapped and ready to be given away, they also found lists of voters in Taichung City's northern constituency.
"None of them admitted to prosecutors that they were trying to buy votes," Tu said.
"But after their interviews we decided to detain Chen's wife, his sister, his brother-in-law and his friend, Wang, for further questioning. As for the other two vote-captains, Chung Shun-sheng and Wu, we decided to release them on bail on condition that they remain available for potential summons since we concluded that they were not major players in this vote-buying case."
"Currently, we are also trying to contact Chen to ask him to give his side of the story," he said.
Taiwan’s exports soared to an all-time high of US$61.8 billion last month, surging 49.7 percent from a year earlier, as the global frenzy for artificial intelligence (AI) applications and new consumer electronics powered shipments of high-tech goods, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. It was the first time exports had exceeded the US$60 billion mark, fueled by the global boom in AI development that has significantly boosted Taiwanese companies across the international supply chain, Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) told a media briefing. “There is a consensus among major AI players that the upcycle is still in its early stage,”
‘SECRETS’: While saying China would not attack during his presidency, Donald Trump declined to say how Washington would respond if Beijing were to take military action US President Donald Trump said that China would not take military action against Taiwan while he is president, as the Chinese leaders “know the consequences.” Trump made the statement during an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes program that aired on Sunday, a few days after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in South Korea. “He [Xi] has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘we would never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences,” Trump said in the interview. However, he repeatedly declined to say exactly how Washington would respond in
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said yesterday that China using armed force against Taiwan could constitute a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, allowing the country to mobilize the Japanese armed forces under its security laws. Takaichi made the remarks during a parliamentary session yesterday while responding to a question about whether a "Taiwan contingency" involving a Chinese naval blockade would qualify as a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, according to a report by Japan’s Asahi Shimbun. "If warships are used and other armed actions are involved, I believe this could constitute a survival- threatening
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-Wong tomorrow, which it said would possibly make landfall near central Taiwan. As of 2am yesterday, Fung-Wong was about 1,760km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving west-northwest at 26kph. It is forecast to reach Luzon in the northern Philippines by tomorrow, the CWA said. After entering the South China Sea, Typhoon Fung-Wong is likely to turn northward toward Taiwan, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said, adding that it would likely make landfall near central Taiwan. The CWA expects to issue a land
RSS