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.
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
Taiwanese indie band Sunset Rollercoaster and South Korean outfit Hyukoh collectively received the most nominations at this year’s Golden Melody Awards, earning a total of seven nods from the jury on Wednesday. The bands collaborated on their 2024 album AAA, which received nominations for best band, best album producer, best album design and best vocal album recording. “Young Man,” a single from the album, earned nominations for song of the year and best music video, while another track, “Antenna,” also received a best music video nomination. Late Hong Kong-American singer Khalil Fong (方大同) was named the jury award winner for his 2024 album
Hong Kong singer Eason Chan’s (陳奕迅) concerts in Kaohsiung this weekend have been postponed after he was diagnosed with Covid-19 this morning, the organizer said today. Chan’s “FEAR and DREAMS” concert which was scheduled to be held in the coming three days at the Kaohsiung Arena would be rescheduled to May 29, 30 and 31, while the three shows scheduled over the next weekend, from May 23 to 25, would be held as usual, Universal Music said in a statement. Ticket holders can apply for a full refund or attend the postponed concerts with the same seating, the organizer said. Refund arrangements would
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not