The Keelung District Court late last night granted bail for a city government official accused of using public household registration rolls to aid a recall effort against Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) city councilors.
At nearly midnight, the court released Keelung Department of Civil Affairs Director Chang Yuan-hsiang (張淵翔) on bail of NT$400,000.
Two other suspects in the case — recall campaign leader Chi Wen-chuan (紀文荃) and Renai District (仁愛) Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) committee director Chang Chin-fa (張金發) — were ordered held incommunicado.
Photo: Lin Chia-tung, Taipei Times
The court said that it was unnecessary to detain Chang as he had admitted guilt during questioning, despite there being concerns of collusion and tampering with witnesses.
However, he is restricted to his residence and is barred from having contact with other suspects or witnesses in the case, the court said.
Chang is suspected of accessing the household registration system to assist with recall campaigns targeting DPP city councilors Cheng Wen-ting (鄭文婷) and Jiho Chang (張之豪).
The court ordered Chi and Chang Chin-fa detained, as they are accused of the “serious crimes” of illegally using personal data in contravention of the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) and forging private documents.
Prosecutors also found conversation records from a chat group in which Chi removed the original members and advised people to leave the group after a member shared a news article about the KMT headquarters in Tainan being searched in relation to another recall petition forgery investigation, the court said.
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Instead of focusing solely on the threat of a full-scale military invasion, the US and its allies must prepare for a potential Chinese “quarantine” of Taiwan enforced through customs inspections, Stanford University Hoover fellow Eyck Freymann said in a Foreign Affairs article published on Wednesday. China could use various “gray zone” tactics in “reconfiguring the regional and ultimately the global economic order without a war,” said Freymann, who is also a nonresident research fellow at the US Naval War College. China might seize control of Taiwan’s links to the outside world by requiring all flights and ships entering or leaving Taiwan
The next minimum wage hike is expected to exceed NT$30,000, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday during an award ceremony honoring “model workers,” including migrant workers, at the Presidential Office ahead of Workers’ Day today. Lai said he wished to thank the awardees on behalf of the nation and extend his most sincere respect for their hard work, on which Taiwan’s prosperity has been built. Lai specifically thanked 10 migrant workers selected for the award, saying that although they left their home countries to further their own goals, their efforts have benefited Taiwan as well. The nation’s industrial sector and small businesses lay
Taiwan's first indigenous defense submarine, the SS-711 Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), departed for its 13th sea trial at 7am today, marking its seventh submerged test, with delivery to the navy scheduled for July. The outing also marked its first sea deployment since President William Lai (賴清德) boarded the submarine for an inspection on March 19, drawing a crowd of military enthusiasts who gathered to show support. The submarine this morning departed port accompanied by CSBC Corp’s Endeavor Manta (奮進魔鬼魚號) uncrewed surface vessel and a navy M109 assault boat. Amid public interest in key milestones such as torpedo-launching operations and overnight submerged trials,
RSS