The president's nominee for state public prosecutor-general said yesterday that members of the"special investigation team" would be barred from joining political parties or attending political activities in order to avoid political bias.
"I will ask those prosecutors to sign secrecy pledges so that their investigations strictly follow the gag-order principle," Hsieh Wen-ding (謝文定) told a legislative committee that is reviewing his qualifications to become the nation's top prosecutor.
Hsieh said he would reject any recommendations for the special taskforce from politicians.
"I would say no to President Chen Shui-bian (
Several legislators, however, appeared doubtful yesterday that the special teams would really be able to insure the confidentiality of their investigations.
Some of them referred to the recent suicide of Lee Shuang-chuan (李雙全), who was hounded by the media over his alleged involvement in the March 17 derailment of a train after Pingtung prosecutors released information about their investigation into the accident.
Lee, whose Vietnamese wife died in the derailment, hanged himself last Thursday.
Some lawmakers asked Hsieh to promise to resist political influence after the new taskforce is formed.
They said that probes into the most serious corruption cases in recent years had been influenced by politics, leading to controversy.
"We have seen an erosion of public trust in the activities of prosecutors," Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lee Yong-ping (李永萍) said.
Hsieh is the first state public prosecutor-general nominee whose appointment has required legislative approval, in accordance with amendments made to the Organic Law of Court Organization (
Another amendment to the law was the establishment of a special investigation team under the command of the top prosecutor.
The taskforce has been charged with investigating malfeasance by high-ranking officials, including the president, vice president, the heads of the government's five branches, ministers or chairmen of the government departments and military officials of the rank of general or above.
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
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