Prosecutors today said they are investigating Chinese Nationalist Party Legislator Cheng Cheng-chien (鄭正鈐), following allegations that he received campaign funds from Beijing and leaked government information.
Carol Lin (林志潔), spokesperson for the recall campaigns against Cheng and suspended Hsinchu mayor Ann Kao (高虹安), on Wednesday filed a complaint saying that a whistle-blower, who claimed to be Cheng’s former assistant, alleged that Cheng had accepted funding from the Chinese Communist Party.
Cheng had also allegedly instructed his assistant to use his phone to reply to messages from China's Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) and send government files to the TAO using WeChat, a Chinese messaging platform, the complaint said.
Photo: Taipei Times file photo
Lin also accused Cheng of receiving bribes from contractors by asking them to pay his assistant’s salaries, prosecutors said.
In addition, Cheng allegedly inflated his assistant’s salaries and failed to provide them with labor and health insurance as required by law, Lin’s complaint said.
Cheng was also accused of unauthorized personal use of government vehicles and asking police escorts to drive him to election campaigns and anti-recall campaigns.
The High Prosecutors’ Office today said the case would be handled by a team of investigators specializing in “major cases endangering national security and social order.”
The Taipei Prosecutors’ Office said it would investigate whether Cheng contravened the Political Donations Act (政治獻金法), National Security Act (國家安全法) and Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例).
Cheng has denied receiving Chinese funds and leaking confidential information involving national security to the TAO.
Asked if he had given any information to the TAO, he said the office might have asked for some calligraphy to “pray for blessings,” which he sent.
Asked whether his election campaign materials were provided by China, Cheng said they were made in China, but were procured by Taiwanese companies.
He said he would pursue legal action in light of "repeated false accusations," dismissing the allegations made by the recall campaign group as “smearing.”
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