China Unification Promotion Party (CUPP) Deputy Chairman Lee Tsung-kuei (李宗奎) on Monday was handed a suspended two-year sentence for breaching election laws by paying for signatures to support the presidential bid of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co founder Terry Gou (郭台銘) last year.
The Taipei District Court handed Lee a suspended two-year term and five years of probation, fined him NT$6 million (US$186,168), with an additional NT$3 million to be paid to the state treasury, and deprived him of his civil rights for four years.
Prosecutors said that in 2023, Lee offered NT$300 per signature during a petition drive to get Gou on the ballot — with about 1,000 people paid — and that he spent about NT$1.6 million in total, including operating expenses.
Photo: Liu Ching-ho, Taipei Times
Lee was convicted on charges that he contravened the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act (總統副總統選舉罷免法), which in Article 87 stipulates that “inducing a signer of a joint-signature petition to sign or not sign for a certain prospective candidate through bribery” is punishable by a prison term of one to seven years and a fine of up to NT$10 million.
In October 2023, Taipei-based businessman Chen Chung-ming (陳仲明) asked Lee to organize a petition drive to back Gou’s bid to launch a presidential campaign for the election in January last year, prosecutors said.
Lee instructed employees at his company, including an accountant and a driver, to ask people to sign the petition, paying NT$300 per person, a court filing showed.
Seven others were convicted as accomplices in the case on bribery charges. They also received suspended sentences, which can be appealed.
The suspects were given suspended sentences because they admitted guilt during the investigation, the court said.
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
RSS