The Prosecutors' Office of the Taiwan High Court has launched an investigation into Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Vice Chairman Chiang Pin-kun's (江炳坤) visit to China, during which he reached a 10-point agreement with Beijing officials, Prosecutor-General Wu Ying-chao (吳英昭) said yesterday.
"It is a criminal case, and politics should be involved," Wu told the legislature.
"Prosecutor Chu Chia-chi (
Minister of Justice Morley Shih (
An oral agreement in which a consensus is reached with a foreign country might constitute a violation of Article 113 of the Criminal Code, Shih said.
He said that, according to the law, an unauthorized person who secretly agrees with a foreign government or its agent on matters requiring the authorization of the government may be sent to jail for a minimum of seven years. The maximum sentence is life imprisonment.
Vice Minister of Justice Tang Jinn-chuan (
"According to Taiwan's current Constitution, Taiwan is a sovereign state, and China is another sovereign state. That makes China a foreign country," he said.
At the legislative session, People First Party Legislator Chou Hsi-wei (
"Prosecutors are investigating Chiang because he is the KMT's vice chairman. Politics must be involved," Chou said.
KMT Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (
Wu replied that the law does not prohibit cross-strait agreements that have nothing to do with the government or politics.
Chu said yesterday that he is gathering information from several sources.
"It will take some time before I decide whether I will summon Chiang for questioning," he said.
Prosecutors began their investigation after Tainan City Councilor Siew Po-jen (
A total lunar eclipse coinciding with the Lantern Festival on March 3 would be Taiwan’s most notable celestial event this year, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said, urging skywatchers not to miss it. There would be four eclipses worldwide this year — two solar eclipses and two lunar eclipses — the museum’s Web site says. Taiwan would be able to observe one of the lunar eclipses in its entirety on March 3. The eclipse would be visible as the moon rises at 5:50pm, already partly shaded by the Earth’s shadow, the museum said. It would peak at about 7:30pm, when the moon would
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday held a ceremony marking the delivery of its 11th Anping-class offshore patrol vessel Lanyu (蘭嶼艦), saying it would boost Taiwan’s ability to respond to Beijing’s “gray zone” tactics. Ocean Affairs Council Deputy Minister Chang Chung-Lung (張忠龍) presided over the CGA event in the Port of Kaoshiung. Representatives of the National Security Council also attended the event. Designed for long-range and protracted patrol operations at sea, the Lanyu is a 65.4m-long and 14.8m-wide ship with a top speed of 44 knots (81.5kph) and a cruising range of 2,000 nautical miles (3704km). The vessel is equipped with a
DEFENSE: The US should cancel the US visas or green cards of relatives of KMT and TPP lawmakers who have been blocking the budget, Grant Newsham said A retired US Marine Corps officer has suggested canceling the US green cards and visas of relatives of opposition Taiwanese lawmakers who have been stalling the review of a proposed NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.7 billion) special defense budget. The Executive Yuan has proposed the budget for major weapons purchases over eight years, from this year to 2033. However, opposition lawmakers have refused to review the proposal, demanding that President William Lai (賴清德) first appear before the Legislative Yuan to answer questions about the proposed budget. On Thursday last week, 37 bipartisan US lawmakers sent a letter to Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), the heads
Two siblings in their 70s were injured yesterday when they opened a parcel and it exploded, police in Yilan said, adding the brother and sister were both in stable condition. The two siblings, surnamed Hung (洪), had received the parcel two days earlier but did not open it until yesterday, the first day of the Lunar New Year holiday in Taiwan, police said. Chen Chin-cheng (陳金城), head of the Yilan County Government Police Bureau, said the package bore no postmark or names and was labeled only with the siblings’ address. Citing the findings of a
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