Yilan County Commissioner Lin Zi-miao (林姿妙) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and other county government officials were yesterday summoned by the Yilan District Prosecutors’ Office as part of an investigation into a suspected corruption case.
Prosecutors’ office personnel searched more than 30 locations before 1pm yesterday — including Lin’s government-assigned housing, her private residence, and Yilan County and Bureau of Land Administration Director Yang Chung-ming’s (楊崇明) office.
Prosecutors said the search was conducted in conjunction with officials from the Ministry of Justice’s Agency Against Corruption, and the search warrants were approved by the county district court.
Photo: Tsai Yun-jung, Taipei Times
The agency has not provided more information as to the focus or progress of the investigation.
Luodong Township Mayor (羅東) Wu Chiu-ling’s (吳秋齡) office was also searched, prosecutors said.
Wu was among those summoned for questioning about the case, along with Yilan County Department of Economic Affairs Acting Director Wu Chao-chin (吳朝琴), Yilan County Department of Transportation Director Huang Chih-liang (黃志良) and Yilan County Government Secretariat Director Tseng Cheng-yang (曾成陽), they said.
Yilan County Secretary-General Lin Mao-sheng (林茂盛) said that although the precise nature of the case is unclear, the Yilan County Government would fully cooperate with the investigation.
Sources in the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), who declined to be named, said that the incident would affect Lin’s bid for another term in elections later this year, adding that how much her chances would be harmed would depend on how involved she is with the alleged corruption case.
Incumbent mayors or commissioners try to avoid having their ethics and morals questioned, which is particularly true for Lin, as no Yilan County commissioner has previously been involved, or alleged to be involved, in a corruption case, the sources said.
Some within the KMT have said that they are worried that the investigation would harm Lin’s chances in the year-end elections.
The KMT said that summoning Lin for questioning was a political maneuver by the DPP to ruin Lin’s reputation.
Additional reporting by Wang Ting-chuan and CNA
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is aware that Beijing’s treatment of Hong Kong has weakened any possible sentiment for a “one country, two systems” arrangement for Taiwan, and has instructed Chinese Communist Party (CCP) politburo member Wang Huning (王滬寧) to develop new ways of defining cross-strait relations, Japanese news magazine Nikkei Asia reported on Thursday. A former professor of international politics at Fu Dan University, Wang is expected to develop a dialogue that could serve as the foundation for cross-strait unification, and Xi plans to use the framework to support a fourth term as president, Nikkei Asia quoted an anonymous source
LUCKY DATE: The man picked the 10th ‘Super Red Envelope’ in a lottery store in Taoyuan’s Jhongli because he broke up with his girlfriend on Jan. 10 A man who recently broke up with his girlfriend won a NT$1 million (US$32,929) prize in the “NT$20 million Super Red Envelope” lottery after picking a card based on the date of their breakup, Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The man, in his 20s, bought the 10th ticket at a lottery store in Taoyuan’s Jhongli District (中壢), because he broke up with his girlfriend on Jan. 10, the store owner told the lottery company. The “Super Red Envelope” lottery was a limited offering by the company during the Lunar New Year holiday, which ended yesterday. The cards, which cost NT$2,000 each, came with
TOURISM BOOST: The transportation system could help attract more visitors to the area, as the line is to connect multiple cultural sites, a city councilor said Residents in New Taipei City’s Ankeng District (安坑) said the local light rail system might have a positive influence, but raised questions about its practicality. The Ankeng light rail system, which is to commence operations after the Lunar New Year holiday, would cut travel time for commuters from Ankeng to downtown Taipei or New Taipei City by 15 to 20 minutes, the city government said. According to the initial plan, there would be one train every 15 minutes during peak time and additional interval trains would run between the densely populated Ankang Station (安康) and Shisizhang Station (十 四張). To encourage people to
CHAMPION TREES: The team used light detection and ranging imaging to locate the tree, and found that it measured a height of 84.1m and had a girth of 8.5m A team committed to finding the tallest trees in the nation yesterday said that an 84.1m tall Taiwania cryptomerioides tree had been named the tallest tree in Taiwan and East Asia. The Taiwan Champion Trees, a team consisting of researchers from the Council of Agriculture’s Taiwan Forestry Research Institute and National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), in June last year used light detection and ranging (LiDAR) imaging to find the giant tree, numbered 55214, upstream of the Daan River (大安溪). A 20-member expedition team led by Rebecca Hsu (徐嘉君), an assistant researcher at the Taiwan Forestry Research Institute, set out to find the
RSS