Hsinchu City Councilor Fan Cheng-lung (范振龍) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) was stripped of his office yesterday after being convicted of vote-buying, while in New Taipei City, residents accused KMT candidate Chang Chih-lun (張智倫) of attempted vote-buying by distributing liquor and red envelopes.
Fan in a second trial was handed a three-year, two-month prison term and deprived of his civil rights for four years, and the Supreme Court yesterday in the final decision rejected his appeal of the sentence.
Fan was not among the five candidates to win seats in Hsinchu County’s second electoral district in 2022, but when Chen Te-mu (陳德木) was convicted of vote-buying last year, Fan — who was next in line due to his vote count — replaced him.
Photo: Liao Hsueh-ju, Taipei Times
It is the first time in the history of local elections in Taiwan that members of the same party are ousted from the same public office back-to-back.
During campaigning in 2022, Fan disbursed money to local vote brokers and executives of the Fan family association, instructing them to give it to residents to secure their votes, investigators said.
Fan provided lists of eligible voters, who were to be given NT$1,000 if they were a Fan association member and NT$500 if not, people involved in the scheme told investigators.
Fan and several others admitted to vote-buying activities and were found guilty in February last year of contravening the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法).
They were initially handed suspended sentences because they plead guilty.
However, prosecutors appealed, leading to the second ruling, in which Supreme Court judges agreed they had committed a serious offense that undermined the electoral process.
Meanwhile, Democratic Progressive Party legislative candidate Justin Wu (吳崢) said in a briefing that his opponent in New Taipei City’s Jhonghe District (中和), Chang Chih-lun (張智倫), had handed out money and gifts to buy votes.
Wu demanded an investigation.
Videos and items provided by residents prove that Chang attempted to buy votes in activities that have been going on for weeks at neighborhood banquets and campaign events, Wu said.
“We demand that the authorities take action and rule Chang ineligible to run for legislative office due to clear evidence from members of the public showing Chang and his aides presenting bottles of liquor and red envelopes containing NT$3,000 to attendees,” Wu said, adding that Chang also gave checks of tens of thousands of New Taiwan dollars to communty associations.
Chang Chih-lun is the son of Chang Ching-chung (張慶忠), a former KMT legislator who owns several franchise motels nationwide and has been accused of illegal deals to take over public land.
Chang Ching-chung has also drawn criticism for his role in the 2014 attempt to pass the cross-strait service trade agreement with China by conducting a rapid roll call during a legislative session, actions that were part of the buildup to the Sunflower movement.
Taiwan has received more than US$70 million in royalties as of the end of last year from developing the F-16V jet as countries worldwide purchase or upgrade to this popular model, government and military officials said on Saturday. Taiwan funded the development of the F-16V jet and ended up the sole investor as other countries withdrew from the program. Now the F-16V is increasingly popular and countries must pay Taiwan a percentage in royalties when they purchase new F-16V aircraft or upgrade older F-16 models. The next five years are expected to be the peak for these royalties, with Taiwan potentially earning
POSITIVE DEVELOPMENT: Japan and the US are expected to hold in-depth discussions on Taiwan-related issues during the meeting next month, Japanese sources said The holding of a Japan-US leaders’ meeting ahead of US President Donald Trump’s visit to China is positive news for Taiwan, former Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association representative Hiroyasu Izumi said yesterday. After the Liberal Democratic Party’s landslide victory in Japan’s House of Representatives election, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is scheduled to visit the US next month, where she is to meet with Trump ahead of the US president’s planned visit to China from March 31 to April 2 for a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Japan and the US are expected to hold in-depth discussions on Taiwan-related issues during the
‘LIKE-MINDED PARTNER’: Tako van Popta said it would be inappropriate to delay signing the deal with Taiwan because of China, adding he would promote the issue Canadian senators have stressed Taiwan’s importance for international trade and expressed enthusiasm for ensuring the Taiwan-Canada trade cooperation framework agreement is implemented this year. Representative to Canada Harry Tseng (曾厚仁) in an interview with the Central News Agency (CNA) said he was increasingly uneasy about Ottawa’s delays in signing the agreement, especially as Ottawa has warmed toward Beijing. There are “no negotiations left. Not only [is it] initialed, we have three versions of the text ready: English, French and Mandarin,” Tseng said. “That tells you how close we are to the final signature.” Tseng said that he hoped Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney
STAY IN YOUR LANE: As the US and Israel attack Iran, the ministry has warned China not to overstep by including Taiwanese citizens in its evacuation orders The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rebuked a statement by China’s embassy in Israel that it would evacuate Taiwanese holders of Chinese travel documents from Israel amid the latter’s escalating conflict with Iran. Tensions have risen across the Middle East in the wake of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran beginning Saturday. China subsequently issued an evacuation notice for its citizens. In a news release, the Chinese embassy in Israel said holders of “Taiwan compatriot permits (台胞證)” issued to Taiwanese nationals by Chinese authorities for travel to China — could register for evacuation to Egypt. In Taipei, the ministry yesterday said Taiwan
RSS