Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) chairman Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) has stepped down from the post after a corruption probe, the foundation said yesterday.
Cheng tendered his resignation to avoid disrupting the foundation’s operations, the SEF said in a release.
“Cheng will fight to clear his name through the judicial process,” it added.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
Cheng, a former vice premier in the administration of former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), was on Friday summoned by prosecutors as part of an investigation into an alleged corruption case during his tenure as Taoyuan mayor from December 2014 to December 2022.
The case involves alleged bribery to assist rezoning of a plot, local media reported.
Cheng was released on NT$5 million (US$153,965) bail on Saturday afternoon.
Prosecutors have appealed the decision.
President William Lai (賴清德), who appointed Cheng to the SEF post, respects his decision to resign, Presidential Office spokeswoman Kuo Ya-hui (郭雅慧) said yesterday.
“We hope to see the justice system undertake a thorough investigation to clarify the facts and to prosecute those who committed misconduct,” she said.
The appointment of a new SEF head would proceed according to government protocols, she added.
Meanwhile, the DPP’s anti-corruption committee is slated to hold a meeting today regarding the corruption probe into Cheng, committee head Chiou Jiunn-yann (邱駿彥) said.
The DPP has anti-corruption provisions in its party charter, and its anti-corruption committee includes academics and legal professionals, he said.
The provisions stipulate that, with only a few exceptions, a party member would be expelled from the party if they are found to have breached articles 4 and 6 of the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例) and obtained more than NT$500,000 through illegal means.
Separately, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taoyuan City Councilor Ling Tao (凌濤) said there might be a conflict of interest concerning the judge, surnamed Teng (鄧), who ruled Cheng’s release.
Teng’s father previously worked under Cheng as chief of the ethics office when Cheng was head of the now-defunct Government Information Office, and at the Taoyuan City Government when Cheng was Taoyuan mayor, Ling said.
“Are there not law statutes for judges to recuse themselves from a conflict of interest situation?” he asked, “This judge released Cheng on bail, for which we respect the law. Teng should recuse herself from the case, as there would be a conflict of interest in the public’s eye, and people would question the court’s impartiality on this prominent case. It could cause them to lose faith in the justice system,” Ling said.
Additional reporting by Cheng Shu-ting
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