A Taipei district court yesterday handed down a 27-month prison sentence to Liu Cheng-chih (劉政池), the brother of a former county commissioner, for violating the Soil and Water Conservation Act (水土保持法) in an illegal appropriation of public land case involving property on Yangmingshan (陽明山).
Yesterday’s verdict by the Shilin District Court in Taipei was widely viewed as a light sentence, because Liu was found not guilty on the more serious illegal occupation of state-owned land charge, which carries a harsher punishment.
Public outcry followed the announcement of the sentence, as the public officials implicated in the case — mostly from the Yangmingshan National Park Administration (YNPA) — received harsher sentences, with former YNPA director Tsai Pai-lu (蔡佰祿) receiving a six-year jail term for his involvement.
Photo: CNA
Liu was accused of illegally appropriating about 1,465 ping (4,843m2) of public land to build an opulent estate, known as “77 Mansion” (七七行館), inside Yangmingshan National Park, through bribes for YNPA officials to expedite the process and obtaining approval permits through the use of forged documents.
During construction of the property, Liu also carried out unauthorized activities, which included cutting down trees and excavating land to put in metal cargo containers for an expanded underground housing complex. These activities are normally not allowed and highly regulated inside Yangmingshan National Park, under the strict scrutiny of the YNPA.
During the investigation, it was ascertained that construction permits were obtained for the original mansion and the planned expansions only after Liu’s brother, former Miaoli County commissioner Liu Cheng-hung (劉政鴻), bribed Tsai and other officials with lavish banquets and other inducements.
In yesterday’s ruling, former YNPA section chief Lee Chao-sheng (李朝盛) and his subordinate Hsieh Wen-hua (謝文華), who handled the permit applications, were both given 31-month sentences, while construction contractor Yeh Hsien-chung (葉憲忠) received a seven-month jail term.
Prosecutors said the Liu family illegally occupied public land in a national park for nearly two decades thanks to collusion with YNPA officials, who accepted various bribes and inducements.
According to the indictment, Liu Cheng-chih originally bought the land adjacent to Yangmingshan’s Sulfur Valley (硫磺谷) in 1998, and rented public land from the YNPA starting in 1999 for NT$22,860 per month, before beginning construction in 2004.
Due to Liu Cheng-chih’s construction and improvements over the past decade, “77 Mansion” reportedly increased in value by a factor of more than 250 to reach NT$770 million (US$24.53 million) from an original value of about NT$3 million.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to