The Taipei District Court yesterday approved a request by prosecutors to extend the detention of two former staffers of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) suspected of engaging in espionage for China.
The two detainees, Chiu Shih-yuan (邱世元) and Huang Chu-jung (黃取榮), had been held in custody since mid-February after being summoned by Taipei District Prosecutors Office for questioning, with their detention period due to expire tomorrow.
Citing strong suspicion of serious crimes and concerns over potential collusion or destruction of evidence, prosecutors sought an extension of Chiu and Huang's detention. The court held a hearing yesterday afternoon and approved the request.
Photo: CNA
The two are to have their detention extended for another two months starting Sunday and remain being held incommunicado during the period.
Chiu, former deputy head of the DPP's Taiwan Institute of Democracy, and Huang, a former assistant to DPP New Taipei Councilor Lee Yu-tien (李余典), are among several individuals suspected of spying for Chinese intelligence services while working for senior officials in the DPP government, which has been in power since 2016.
Other suspects in the case include Wu Shang-yu (吳尚雨), who worked as an adviser in the office of President William Lai (賴清德), and Ho Jen-chieh (何仁傑), former assistant to the Secretary-General of the National Security Council Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) during his tenure as Taiwan's Foreign Minister.
According to the prosecutors, Huang was likely recruited by Beijing's intelligence services when doing business in China and after returning to Taiwan, started working with Ho, Wu Shang-yu and Chiu to gather confidential information about Lai and other top officials.
After providing such information to the Chinese intelligence services through Huang, Ho, Wu and Chiu received tens of thousands of Taiwan dollars in return, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors claimed the probe into the case was expanded after they traced money flows between Huang and the others in February. Huang, Wu and Chiu were detained in February following questioning, with Ho added to the list last week.
Travel agencies in Taiwan are working to secure alternative flights for travelers bound for New Zealand for the Lunar New Year holiday, as Air New Zealand workers are set to strike next week. The airline said that it has confirmed that the planned industrial action by its international wide-body cabin crew would go ahead on Thursday and Friday next week. While the Auckland-based carrier pledged to take reasonable measures to mitigate the impact of the workers’ strike, an Air New Zealand flight arriving at Taipei from Auckland on Thursday and another flight departing from Taipei for Auckland on Saturday would have to
The Taipei City Government yesterday confirmed that it has negotiated a royalties of NT$12.2 billion (US$380 million) with artificial intelligence (AI) chip giant Nvidia Corp, with the earliest possible signing date set for Wednesday next week. The city has been preparing for Nvidia to build its Taiwan headquarters in Beitou-Shilin Technology Park since last year, and the project has now entered its final stage before the contract is signed. Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said the city government has completed the royalty price negotiations and would now push through the remaining procedures to sign the contract before
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday said the name of the Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania was agreed by both sides, after Lithuania’s prime minister described a 2021 decision to let Taiwan set up a de facto embassy in Vilnius as a “mistake.” Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene, who entered office in September last year, told the Baltic News Service on Tuesday that Lithuania had begun taking “small first steps” aimed at restoring ties with Beijing. The ministry in a statement said that Taiwan and Lithuania are important partners that share the values of freedom and democracy. Since the establishment of the
Taipei Zoo welcomes the Lunar New Year this year through its efforts to protect an endangered species of horse native to central Asia that was once fully extinct outside of captivity. The festival ushering in the Year of the Horse would draw attention to the zoo’s four specimens of Przewalski’s horse, named for a Russian geographer who first encountered them in the late 19th century across the steppes of western Mongolia. “Visitors will look at the horses and think that since this is the Year of the Horse: ‘I want to get to know horses,’” said zookeeper Chen Yun-chieh, who has been
RSS