Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) has applied to lift a restriction on written communication while in detention, while Taipei city councilors accused the former mayor of holding “secret meetings” with business figures to raise fund the party.
The Taipei District Court brought in Ko for further questioning on Thursday afternoon, after he applied through his lawyer to lift a restriction on written communication, saying he wanted to pass some documents to his family.
Ko has been held incommunicado since early September while prosecutors investigate allegations of falsified accounting and unlawful transfer of campaign funds in association with the TPP.
Photo: Taipei Times
Meanwhile, TPP founding member Chu Hui-jung (朱蕙蓉) and business tycoon Sun Cheng-chiang (孫正強) confirmed that they had registered Zhong Cheng Management Co (眾城管理) in 2020.
The company is at the center of allegations from Taipei city councilors Yu Shu-hui (游淑慧) and Chien Shu-pei (簡舒培) about the so-called "Tuntian Project" (屯田計劃).
They claimed that Ko held secret meetings with business tycoons and close aides to generate revenue for the TPP, and directed the establishment for Taoyuan-based Zhong Cheng to aid with the project.
Yu, a KMT member, said that the "Tuntian Project" aimed to raise NT$2 billion (US$61.27 million) by 2028, in time for another presidential run by Ko.
When it was formed, the company listed Chu as a board member with the most shares, Yu said.
The company was led by Norman Sun (孫正強), chairman of Toplus Global Group and Vision Living Co, which manage luxury restaurants, hotels and food catering businesses.
Yu cited anonymous sources as saying that Ko had planned for Zhong Cheng to become a parent holding company in charge of other companies through owning shares, without directly engaging in business.
Yu said the plan was to attract more business figures to invest in return for “quid pro quo” financial benefit from TPP figures.
Chu said she knew about the establishment of Zhong Cheng and was asked to serve on the board, but claimed not to hold any shares or be involved in its operations.
Sun also said he served as Zhong Cheng’s chairman, but had no subsequent business activities with the firm which now lays dormant.
The Taoyuan Flight Attendants’ Union yesterday vowed to protest at the EVA Air Marathon on Sunday next week should EVA Airway Corp’s management continue to ignore the union’s petition to change rules on employees’ leave of absence system, after a flight attendant reportedly died after working on a long-haul flight while ill. The case has generated public discussion over whether taking personal or sick leave should affect a worker’s performance review. Several union members yesterday protested at the Legislative Yuan, holding white flowers and placards, while shouting: “Life is priceless; requesting leave is not a crime.” “The union is scheduled to meet with
‘UNITED FRONT’ RHETORIC: China’s TAO also plans to hold weekly, instead of biweekly, news conferences because it wants to control the cross-strait discourse, an expert said China’s plan to expand its single-entry visa-on-arrival service to Taiwanese would be of limited interest to Taiwanese and is a feeble attempt by Chinese administrators to demonstrate that they are doing something, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) spokesman Chen Binhua (陳斌華) said the program aims to facilitate travel to China for Taiwanese compatriots, regardless of whether they are arriving via direct flights or are entering mainland China through Hong Kong, Macau or other countries, and they would be able to apply for a single-entry visa-on-arrival at all eligible entry points in China. The policy aims
Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung and Taoyuan would issue a decision at 8pm on whether to cancel work and school tomorrow due to forecasted heavy rain, Keelung Mayor Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) said today. Hsieh told reporters that absent some pressing reason, the four northern cities would announce the decision jointly at 8pm. Keelung is expected to receive between 300mm and 490mm of rain in the period from 2pm today through 2pm tomorrow, Central Weather Administration data showed. Keelung City Government regulations stipulate that school and work can be canceled if rain totals in mountainous or low-elevation areas are forecast to exceed 350mm in
EVA Airways president Sun Chia-ming (孫嘉明) and other senior executives yesterday bowed in apology over the death of a flight attendant, saying the company has begun improving its health-reporting, review and work coordination mechanisms. “We promise to handle this matter with the utmost responsibility to ensure safer and healthier working conditions for all EVA Air employees,” Sun said. The flight attendant, a woman surnamed Sun (孫), died on Friday last week of undisclosed causes shortly after returning from a work assignment in Milan, Italy, the airline said. Chinese-language media reported that the woman fell ill working on a Taipei-to-Milan flight on Sept. 22
RSS