Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday denied that he had lent former New Power Party (NPP) chairman Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) NT$3 million (US$101,557) to cover NPP expenditure.
A front-page story published by the Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday said that officers from the Investigation Bureau found NT$3 million in cash in a safe when they searched Hsu’s home earlier this month.
Hsu, who is out on bail of NT$800,000, had told prosecutors that the money was loaned to him by a current government official who was a senior classmate of his at his alma mater, the report said.
Photo: Tsai Cheng-min, Taipei Times
Hsu reportedly indicated in a deposition that he met with the official and Taiwan Optical Platform (TOP) chairwoman Liao Tzu-chen (廖紫岑) at a five-star hotel at the end of last year.
After Liao left the meeting, the official then took the money out and gave it to him, the report said.
Aside from verifying Hsu’s statement, prosecutors have also begun to explore Liao’s role in the case, as she might have been soliciting support from Hsu, who was a legislator at the time, to have one of TOP’s local TV channels converted into a news channel, the report said.
Political talk show host Clara Chou (周玉蔻) said in an interview with Deputy Legislative Speaker Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) yesterday morning that she was convinced Hsu had borrowed money from Lin, as both went to Taipei Municipal Jianguo High School and National Taiwan University.
She said that Lin should hold a news conference to clarify if there is any misunderstanding.
In response, the minister’s office issued a statement dismissing the report, saying that the allegations against him were based on false rumors and speculation.
“Minister Lin is not familiar with the case, which is now under investigation. Prosecutors are responsible for explaining and clarifying all the details. People who are not involved in the case should not exaggerate and speculate on the details, or they could face legal consequences,” the office said.
Tsai said that the matter needs to be investigated, but loaning money to someone is not illegal.
Lin should defend himself if it is not true, Tsai said, adding that he believes that Lin can stand the test of the judicial system.
On March 4, the National Communications Commission approved TOP’s application to turn one of its local TV channels into a news channel.
However, the commission overturned its decision seven days later, saying that it needed more time to deliberate on the matter, as it involved a new news channel.
Taiwanese can file complaints with the Tourism Administration to report travel agencies if their activities caused termination of a person’s citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday, after a podcaster highlighted a case in which a person’s citizenship was canceled for receiving a single-use Chinese passport to enter Russia. The council is aware of incidents in which people who signed up through Chinese travel agencies for tours of Russia were told they could obtain Russian visas and fast-track border clearance, Chiu told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Taipei. However, the travel agencies actually applied
Japanese footwear brand Onitsuka Tiger today issued a public apology and said it has suspended an employee amid allegations that the staff member discriminated against a Vietnamese customer at its Taipei 101 store. Posting on the social media platform Threads yesterday, a user said that an employee at the store said that “those shoes are very expensive” when her friend, who is a migrant worker from Vietnam, asked for assistance. The employee then ignored her until she asked again, to which she replied: "We don't have a size 37." The post had amassed nearly 26,000 likes and 916 comments as of this
New measures aimed at making Taiwan more attractive to foreign professionals came into effect this month, the National Development Council said yesterday. Among the changes, international students at Taiwanese universities would be able to work in Taiwan without a work permit in the two years after they graduate, explainer materials provided by the council said. In addition, foreign nationals who graduated from one of the world’s top 200 universities within the past five years can also apply for a two-year open work permit. Previously, those graduates would have needed to apply for a work permit using point-based criteria or have a Taiwanese company
The Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday indicted two Taiwanese and issued a wanted notice for Pete Liu (劉作虎), founder of Shenzhen-based smartphone manufacturer OnePlus Technology Co (萬普拉斯科技), for allegedly contravening the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) by poaching 70 engineers in Taiwan. Liu allegedly traveled to Taiwan at the end of 2014 and met with a Taiwanese man surnamed Lin (林) to discuss establishing a mobile software research and development (R&D) team in Taiwan, prosecutors said. Without approval from the government, Lin, following Liu’s instructions, recruited more than 70 software
RSS