The Taipei District Court today approved an extended detention for Taipei City Councilor Angela Ying (應曉薇), while the Taiwan High Court rejected real-estate tycoon Sheen Ching-jing's (沈慶京) appeal to have his detention ended.
The two are in custody as part of an alleged corruption case involving a redevelopment project in Taipei that has embroiled Taiwan People's Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲).
Photo: CNA
Ying, of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), is accused of acting as a go-between between Sheen and high-ranking city government officials in the construction project, including then-Taipei mayor Ko.
Sheen, founder and chairman of the Core Pacific Group, is alleged to have bribed Taipei city officials to illegally increase the floor area ratio (FAR) of a site formerly occupied by Core Pacific City to raise the property's financial value.
Ko, Sheen and Ying have all denied the allegations.
Ying is to be held incommunicado for two more months as of tomorrow, as ruled by the Taipei District Court.
The court determined that Ying could potentially tamper with evidence or collude with coconspirators, as her statements on the case differ greatly from other witnesses and suspects, and other witnesses and potential accomplices have yet to be tracked down.
She also poses a flight risk, as she has the means to flee abroad for an extended period of time, the court said.
After being detained on Aug. 29, Sheen has been taken out of prison for medical treatment three times, being hospitalized the last time on Oct. 1 and taken back into custody on Oct. 15.
Sheen's attorney applied for a suspension of his detention, citing his poor health.
The request was rejected by the Taipei District Court, which said the hospital's report on Sheen's health condition did not markedly differ from previous ones and did not indicate a need for him to receive long-term specific medical care.
Sheen then appealed the ruling to the High Court.
In the second instance, the High Court rejected the appeal, saying the ruling in the first instance was clear in its statement, and in line with rules of experience and logic.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday voiced dissatisfaction with the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans- Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), whose latest meeting, concluded earlier the same day, appeared not to address the country’s application. In a statement, MOFA said the CPTPP commission had "once again failed to fairly process Taiwan’s application," attributing the inaction to the bloc’s "succumbing to political pressure," without elaborating. Taiwan submitted its CPTPP application under the name "Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu" on Sept. 22, 2021 -- less than a week after China
THE GOOD WORD: More than 100 colleges on both sides of the Pacific will work together to bring students to Taiwan so they can learn Mandarin where it is spoken A total of 102 universities from Taiwan and the US are collaborating in a push to promote Taiwan as the first-choice place to learn Mandarin, with seven Mandarin learning centers stood up in the US to train and support teachers, the Foundation for International Cooperation in Higher Education of Taiwan (FICHET) said. At the annual convention of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages held over the weekend in New Orleans, Louisiana, a Taiwan Pavilion was jointly run by 17 representative teams from the FICHET, the Overseas Community Affairs Council, the Steering Committee for the Test of Proficiency-Huayu, the
A home-style restaurant opened by a Taiwanese woman in Quezon City in Metro Manila has been featured in the first-ever Michelin Guide honoring exceptional restaurants in the Philippines. The restaurant, Fong Wei Wu (豐味屋), was one of 74 eateries to receive a “Michelin Selected” honor in the guide, while one restaurant received two Michelin stars, eight received one star and 25 were awarded a “Bib Gourmand.” The guide, which was limited to restaurants in Metro Manila and Cebu, was published on Oct. 30. In an interview, Feng Wei Wu’s owner and chef, Linda, said that as a restaurateur in her 60s, receiving an
MORE RETALIATION: China would adopt a long-term pressure strategy to prevent other countries or future prime ministers following in Sanae Takaichi’s steps, an academic said Taiwan should maintain communications with Japan, as Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is to lead a revision of security documents, Taiwanese academics said yesterday. Tensions have risen between Japan and China over remarks by Takaichi earlier this month that the use of force against Taiwan would constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan. Prospect Foundation president Lai I-chung (賴怡忠) yesterday said Takaichi’s stance regarding Taiwan is the same as past Japanese prime ministers, but her position is clearer than that of her predecessors Fumio Kishida and Shigeru Ishiba. Although Japan views a “Taiwan contingency” as a “survival-threatening situation,” which would allow its military to
RSS