Two individuals from the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Tainan City branch were ordered to be held incommunicado today in a case related to fraudulent signatures in recall campaigns.
KMT Tainan chapter director Chuang Chan-kuei (莊占魁) and a defendant surnamed Liu are currently being held incommunicado.
The recall petitions for Tainan Democratic Progressive Party lawmakers Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) and Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) were found to have 99 and 107 signatures from deceased people, the Election Commission found.
Photo courtesy of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s Tainan chapter
Yesterday, investigators searched several places associated with the KMT in Tainan, seizing party membership lists, cell phones and other evidence while summoning five suspects and related individuals for questioning.
Searched locations include Chuang’s home, the KMT Tainan City branch headquarters and other places.
Chuang and Liu are suspected of violating Articles 216 and 210 of the Criminal Code for forging documents, as well as Articles 20 and 41 of the Personal Data Protection Act (保護法), prosecutors said.
They are suspected of serious crimes and are at risk of destroying evidence and colluding with accomplices, prosecutors said.
Chuang and Liu were arrested this morning in Tainan District Court, while the other three people brought in for questioning were released after the interrogation, prosecutors said.
The Tainan District Court are to decide later whether to grant them bail or order them to continue to be detained.
KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said he respects the judiciary but hopes it would not become a political tool deployed to create a chilling effect on society.
Supporters of recall petitions against the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) lawmakers must unite as the DPP is trying to be the dominant party, he said, adding that 14 cases have been sent to the Central Election Commission.
Additional reporting by Liao Hsueh-ju and Fion Khan
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
RSS