Taipei City Councilor Chung Hsiao-ping (鍾小平) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) accused the Xinyi District (信義) Police Precinct of having received bribes from nightclubs and other entertainment businesses within its jurisdiction, amounting to running a protection racket.
Chung said he got the inside information direct from a nightclub owner.
“There are three different groups in the Xinyi District Police Precinct who receive ‘protection money,’ and each establishment pays up to NT$100,000 each month,” said Chung, alleging a top policeman surnamed Shih (石), former deputy chief at the precinct, demanded the highest price, about NT$100,000 to NT$150,000 from each club every month.
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
Chung filed an official complaint with the Taipei City Police Department’s Office of Ethics yesterday.
Chung said Hsueh was among the most corrupt members of the police force, alleging Hsueh played the role of a “white glove” intermediary, collecting bribes and distributing them among his precinct associates.
“I take legal responsibility on these charges. I am willing to give up my judicial immunity as a city councilor,” Chung said.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
In related developments, three military personnel have been implicated in last Sunday’s killing of an off-duty police officer outside the Spark ATT nightclub in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義).
Police detective Hsueh Chen-kuo (薛貞國) was beaten to death in a brawl involving about 50 people. Wan Shao-cheng (萬少丞), who allegedly played a key role in the case, turned himself in to the police on Friday following a manhunt.
A report in the Chinese-language United Evening News yesterday implicated three military police officers, Wang Pei-an (王培安), Tung Yu-tang (董玉堂) and Ma Yin-hung (馬寅紘), who are in the 202nd Military Police Command, under which is the Military Police 211st Barracks, responsible for patrol and security around the Presidential Office Building.
In response to the United Evening News report, Ministry of Defense spokesman Colonel David Lo (羅紹和) yesterday said that only Tung is a military police officer. The other two are army soldiers, he said.
Lo confirmed that Tung is in the 202nd Military Police Command, but said that “Tung’s unit is for logistics support. He is not part of the 211st Barracks, and has no role in the security of the president or the vice president.”
During questioning by investigators, Tung was quoted as saying that he saw the incident unfold, but did not take part in the fighting. Wang and Ma also were quoted as saying that they were just passing by, and were not involved in the case.
Investigators said they were looking into the trio’s testimony.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS