Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Kuo Su-chun (郭素春) yesterday rebutted media speculation that she had illegally lobbied Taipei County coastal patrols in a smuggling investigation.
Kuo told reporters at the legislature that she had expressed “concern” to the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) after complaints from fishermen at Wanli Fishing Port (萬里漁港) in Taipei County that the officials had given them a hard time.
“The fishermen said they were very nervous and felt that the CGA had treated them like criminals, examining everything on their fishing boats, including bottled mineral water and cold medicine,” Kuo said.
Kuo said she only approached Ho Hsiang-tai (賀湘臺), director-general of the Coastal Patrol Directorate General, to gain a better understanding of the CGA’s measures.
Kuo said she did not interfere in the coastal patrol’s smuggling investigation.
“None of the officials at the CGA, be it the minister or the CGA’s legislative liaison, received any phone call from me,” Kuo said.
Kuo made the remarks after Keelung prosecutors on Monday indicted Chiang Hsin-kuang (蔣新光), chief of the Intelligence Division of the Coastal Patrol Directorate General, for corruption.
The indictment said Chiang had released three fishing boats owned by a family surnamed Lin, which had smuggled fish in April and May last year.
The indictment said Ho had instructed Chiang and 17 other patrol guards to inspect the boats, but Kuo questioned Ho regarding the measures on April 16 last year after she received a complaint from the Lin family.
Ho convened a meeting afterwards and mentioned the legislator’s concerns, the indictment said, quoting Chiang as saying that he had cut the Lin family some slack to repay Kuo for helping push through the Organic Act of the Coastal Patrol Directorate General (海岸巡防總局組織法).
Chiang allegedly failed to block three of the family’s fishing boats from unloading their frozen catches, which should have been quarantined on April 19 and April 21 and May 21 last year.
Kuo said yesterday that she felt “wronged,” adding that she should not be held responsible for the misconduct of the coastal patrol.
“The indictment by the Keelung Prosecutors’ Office did not mention any evidence that I was involved in illegal lobbying,” she said.
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
PROMOTION: Travelers who want a free stopover must book their flights with designated travel agents, such as Lion Travel, Holiday Tours, Cola Tour and Life Tours Air Canada yesterday said it is offering Taiwanese travelers who are headed to North America free stopovers if they transit though airports in Japan and South Korea. The promotion was launched in response to a potential rise in demand for flights to North America in June and July next year, when the US, Canada and Mexico are scheduled to jointly host the FIFA World Cup, Air Canada said. Air Canada offers services to 13 of the 16 host cities of the tournament’s soccer games, including Toronto and Vancouver; Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey in Mexico; Atlanta, Georgia; Boston; Dallas; Houston;
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