The New Taipei City (新北市) District Court early yesterday morning ruled to detain 11 people suspected of involvement in corruption.
Among the suspects who were subsequently detained are Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lu Hsueh-chang’s (呂學樟) aide, Hsu Ju-sung (徐如松), and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Hsinchu County councilors Lin Pao-kuang (林保光), Lin Kuang-jung (林光榮), Chao Yi-hsien (趙一先) and Liu Liang-pin (劉良彬). Independent councilor Cheng Mei-chin (鄭美琴) was released on bail.
The district court granted the prosecutors’ request to detain the 11 people, following a hearing held on Friday night during which the prosecutors said that the 11 people, suspected of committing fraud and corruption, may collude on their testimonies if they are free.
The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office on Thursday raided 50 locations and questioned 30 people — including Hsu, the five Hsinchu County councilors and several Hsinchu County school principals — who are suspected of accepting more than NT$10 million (US$345,000) in kickbacks in school procurement projects.
The prosecutors said they suspected that three book and computer software suppliers asked Hsu and the five councilors to help them win contracts in 2011 to supply books and software to 25 elementary and junior-high schools in the county.
The contractors allegedly sold school materials at prices two to five times higher than market prices, and more than NT$10 million was allegedly paid to Hsu and the councilors as kickbacks, the prosecutors said.
Lu had defended his integrity in the case.
An exhibition demonstrating the rejuvenation of the indigenous Kuskus Village in Pingtung County’s Mudan Township (牡丹) opened at the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency’s conservation station in Taipei on Thursday. Agency Director-General Lin Hwa-ching (林華慶) said they have been promoting the use and development of forestry resources to local indigenous residents for eight years to drive regional revitalization. While modern conservation approaches mostly stem from western scientific research, eco-friendly knowledge and skills passed down through generations of indigenous people, who have lived in Taiwan for centuries, could be more suitable for the environment, he said. The agency’s Pingtung branch Director-General Yang Jui-fen (楊瑞芬)
Traffic controls are to be in place in Taipei starting tonight, police said, as rallies supporting recall efforts targeting the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers as well as a rally organized by the KMT opposing the recall campaigns are to take place tomorrow. Traffic controls are to be in place on City Hall Road starting from 10pm tonight and on Jinan Road Section 1 starting from 8am tomorrow, police said. Recall campaign groups in Taipei and New Taipei advocating for the recall of KMT legislators, along with the Safeguard Taiwan, Anti-Communist Alliance (反共護台聯盟), have previously announced plans for motorcycle parades and public
A tropical depression near the northwestern Philippines is expected to strengthen into Tropical Storm Danas by early tomorrow, becoming the fourth tropical storm of the season, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). As of 8am today, the system was located approximately 370 kilometers southwest of Taiwan's southern tip, Cape Eluanbi, and has developed a more organized structure, forecaster Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒) said. The storm is currently moving slowly toward the Taiwan Strait in an east-northeast direction and may trigger a sea warning if it reaches tropical storm strength tomorrow morning. The system is expected to shift direction later tomorrow toward the north
‘ON THE RIGHT TRACK’: US analysts praised the ‘less scripted’ drills as strengthening defenses and resilience, as confusion and spontaneity are common in actual warfare This month’s annual Han Kuang military exercises are to feature six types of “gray zone” tactics used by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) with the aim of weakening their effectiveness, Chief of the General Staff Admiral Mei Chia-shu (梅家樹) told the military yesterday. The 41st Han Kuang drills, scheduled from Wednesday next week through July 18, would simulate a Chinese blockade and invasion, with President William Lai (賴清德) on Tuesday saying that Taiwan is already in a “war without gun smoke.” In a speech broadcast to officers and soldiers yesterday, Mei said that the six types of harassment are: legal warfare,
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