Suspended Hsinchu mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) is to return to her post tomorrow, the Hsinchu City Government said today, after the High Court found her not guilty of embezzling assistant fees.
The city government at 4pm today confirmed that it had received a letter of reinstatement from the Ministry of the Interior.
Kao also told reporters that she had received the notice, and would report to work at Hsinchu City Hall tomorrow morning.
Photo: Hung Mei-hsiu, Taipei Times
The city government yesterday applied to the ministry for Kao’s reinstatement shortly after the High Court acquitted the mayor of corruption charges.
Her sentence was reduced to six months in prison commutable to a fine, down from seven years and four months issued in the first ruling by the Taipei District Court.
While acquitted of the corruption charge, she was still found guilty of causing a public official to commit document forgery.
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday said it is reviewing the ruling and considering whether to appeal.
Prosecutors alleged that Kao inflated assistant salaries and overtime pay claims, obtaining NT$116,514 in illicit gains while serving as a legislator for the Taiwan People’s Party from Feb. 1, 2020, to Dec. 25, 2022.
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,
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