The Keelung District Court yesterday approved a request by prosecutors to detain Chang Yuan-hsiang (張淵翔), a former director of the Keelung Department of Civil Affairs, in connection with an investigation into alleged misuse of personal data in a recall campaign.
The Keelung District Prosecutors’ Office has accused Chang of illegally accessing the household registration system to help revise and verify a list of members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in Keelung.
The data were used to remove the names of deceased party members and update addresses to assist the effort to gather signatures in a bid to recall Democratic Progressive Party city councilors Cheng Wen-ting (鄭文婷) and Jiho Tiun (張之豪), prosecutors said.
Photo: Lin Chia-tung, Taipei Times
Chang had previously been released on NT$400,000 bail late last month, but was summoned for questioning on Monday after prosecutors reviewed new material regarding the case.
He was unable to provide clear explanations regarding the new material, and continued to downplay the nature and structure of the alleged offenses, a source familiar with the matter said.
Prosecutors submitted a detention request to the Keelung District Court at about 3am yesterday, citing a high risk that Chang could collude with others or destroy evidence unless he was held incommunicado.
The court approved the request at about midday, prosecutors said.
The case also involves Hsieh Wei-jen (謝偉仁), an adviser to the Keelung City Government, who was questioned and released on NT$150,000 bail yesterday, prosecutors said.
The investigation in Keelung is one of several across Taiwan, with campaign organizers accused of forging signatures on petitions to trigger public recall votes on both sides of the political aisle.
The government should improve children’s outdoor spaces and accelerate carbon reduction programs, as the risk of heat-related injury due to high summer temperatures rises each year, Greenpeace told a news conference yesterday. Greenpeace examined summer temperatures in Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Hsinchu City, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung to determine the effects of high temperatures and climate change on children’s outdoor activities, citing data garnered by China Medical University, which defines a wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) of 29°C or higher as posing the risk of heat-related injury. According to the Central Weather Administration, WBGT, commonly referred to as the heat index, estimates
The Taipei Department of Health’s latest inspection of fresh fruit and vegetables sold in local markets revealed a 25 percent failure rate, with most contraventions involving excessive pesticide residues, while two durians were also found to contain heavy metal cadmium at levels exceeding safety limits. Health Food and Drug Division Director Lin Kuan-chen (林冠蓁) yesterday said the agency routinely conducts inspections of fresh produce sold at traditional markets, supermarkets, hypermarkets, retail outlets and restaurants, testing for pesticide residues and other harmful substances. In its most recent inspection, conducted in May, the department randomly collected 52 samples from various locations, with testing showing
Taipei and other northern cities are to host air-raid drills from 1:30pm to 2pm tomorrow as part of urban resilience drills held alongside the Han Kuang exercises, Taiwan’s largest annual military exercises. Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung, Taoyuan, Yilan County, Hsinchu City and Hsinchu County are to hold the annual Wanan air defense exercise tomorrow, following similar drills held in central and southern Taiwan yesterday and today respectively. The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and Maokong Gondola are to run as usual, although stations and passenger parking lots would have an “entry only, no exit” policy once air raid sirens sound, Taipei
Taipei placed 14th in the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Best Student Cities 2026 list, its highest ever, according to results released yesterday. With an overall score of 89.1, the city climbed 12 places from the previous year, surpassing its previous best ranking of 17th in 2019. Taipei is “one of Asia’s leading higher-education hubs,” with strong employer activity scores and students “enjoying their experience of the city and often keen to stay after graduation,” a QS staff writer said. In addition to Taipei, Hsinchu (71st), Tainan (92nd), Taichung (113th) and Taoyuan (130th) also made QS’ list of the top 150 student cities. Hsinchu showed the
RSS