A Keelung borough warden on Tuesday was indicted for allegedly leading a tour to China, where participants were urged to vote for certain candidates.
Wu Shih-chin (吳石金), warden of Siaogang Borough (孝岡) in Keelung’s Sinyi District (信義), was charged by the Keelung District Prosecutors’ Office with contravening the Anti-Infiltration Act (反滲透法) and election laws.
He has been in pretrial detention after the Keelung District Court last month determined he presented a flight risk and might tamper with evidence, becoming the first warden to be detained over China’s alleged trips-for-votes scheme.
Photo: Lu Hsien-hsiu, Taipei Times
Wu is suspected of leading 12 wardens and 11 other people on a Beijing-funded tour of China’s Shandong Province from Nov. 21 to 26, according to prosecutors.
Members of the group only paid a fee of NT$5,500 before the trip and each received 1,100 yuan (US$155) in cash upon arrival, the office said.
The tour was accompanied by local Taiwan affairs officials, who urged the participants to vote for certain political parties, it said.
Prosecutors also accused Wu of buying votes by treating more than 30 local residents and officials to a banquet ostensibly for his son’s birthday, where they were urged to vote for a particular legislative candidate.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
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
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face