Minister of Justice Chen Ding-nan (
Chen Ding-nan's remarks were in response to President Chen Shui-bian's (
The minister said that a new case began two years ago after lawyer Chuang Po-lin (
He said that the scandal would be reinvestigated if the evidence is deemed to be strong enough to overrule the original decision.
Chen Ding-nan urged the media not to misinterpret the president's remarks.
"This case was closed two years ago. However, the Taipei District Prosecutors' Office did start a new case because the plaintiff's lawyer offered new evidence. But the decision not to prosecute Soong is still valid," he said.
Chen Ding-nan said the president may have been confused about the latest developments in the case when he said prosecutors are still working on it, when in fact the case was closed on Jan. 20, 2001.
Asked why there has not been any progress in the case over the past two years, Chen said, "I have no idea since I never interfere with prosecutors' work."
The scandal allegations surfaced in December 1999 when then KMT legislator Yang Chi-hsiung (楊吉雄) accused Soong of involvement in irregular money transactions involving hundreds of millions of NT dollars.
Yang said the transactions took place during Soong's tenure as the party's secretary-general and during his time as governor of the Taiwan Provincial Government.
In the run-up to the 2000 presidential election, the KMT decided to sue Soong for embezzling party funds totaling around NT$360 million and forging party seals to open bank accounts in the party's name without authorization.
The KMT used the case to attack Soong, and the political fallout dealt a severe blow to Soong's campaign for the 2000 presidential election.
On Jan. 20, 2001, The Taipei District Prosecutors' Office announced its decision not to prosecute Soong, saying there was insufficient evidence for an indictment on the charges of misappropriation, forgery, fraud, breach of trust, money laundering and tax evasion.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
Taiwan next year plans to launch its first nationwide census on elderly people living independently to identify the estimated 700,000 seniors to strengthen community-based healthcare and long-term care services, the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) said yesterday. Minister of Health and Welfare Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said on the sidelines of a healthcare seminar that the nation’s rapidly aging population and declining birthrate have made the issue of elderly people living alone increasingly pressing. The survey, to be jointly conducted by the MOHW and the Ministry of the Interior, aims to establish baseline data and better allocate care resources, he
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