Former legislative speaker and People First Party (PFP) Legislator Liu Sung-fan (劉松藩) yesterday resigned his seat after the Taiwan High Court's Taichung Branch sentenced him to four years in jail for corruption.
"[Lu's] resignation is in accordance with the appropriate procedures and has been referred to the Central Election Commission," Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
Liu is understood to have instructed his staff to submit a letter of resignation in his absence.
In addition to the jail time, Liu has been given a NT$30 million fine. The verdict cannot be appealed.
The court said that Liu received NT$150 million in kickbacks from Tseng Cheng-jen (曾正仁), president of the Kuangsan Enterprise Group and chairman of the board at the Taichung Business Bank, a Kuangsan subsidiary.
Tseng was sentenced to 11 years' imprisonment in June. Upon learning of the verdict, Tseng fled the country with his wife. He is thought to be living in Shanghai.
The court yesterday issued an order preventing Liu from leaving the country. But Liu has been reported to be attending the Republican Party convention in the US.
"If Liu isn't in Taiwan, we hope that he will return to serve his sentence. If the sentence cannot be executed, a warrant will be issued for his arrest and will be valid for 15 years," court spokesman Chen Chi-kang (
In October 1992, Liu became president of the Bank of Taichung -- later renamed the Taichung Business Bank -- until October 1998, when Tseng took over the position.
Taichung prosecutors alleged in 2001 that Tseng had abused his position as president of the bank in November 1998 to push through loans worth more than NT$9 billion. He also kept dummy accounts in six companies to facilitate the illegal transactions.
The court yesterday determined that Liu had served as a middleman in these activities. Liu conspired with a private firm, the Chihching Company, to harbor one of Tseng's dummy accounts. The company, which at the time only had capital of NT$2 million, managed to secure a loan of NT$1.5 billion from Taichung Business Bank.
In return, Liu was paid NT$150 million as a kickback.
According to a Chinese-language newspaper report, Liu claimed that when the Chihching loan was secured, he was not holding any position at the Taichung Business Bank and was therefore not able to have any influence on the board's decision to grant the loan.
Liu had also claimed that the NT$150 million check he received from Tseng was money borrowed personally from Tseng for his election campaign fund.
As Liu is a legislator-at-large, the PFP will be able to replace him with another party member.
The next candidate on the PFP's legislator-at-large list for this legislative term is Chen Fei-lung (陳飛龍), the chairman of the Namchow Group.
The candidate following Chen is PFP Chairman James Soong (
Additional reporting by Debby Wu
ONE LAST TALK: While Xi said that Taiwan was a ‘red line,’ Biden, in what is likely his last meeting with Xi as president, called for an end to China’s military activity around Taiwan China’s military intimidation and economic coercion against Taiwan are the main causes of tensions that are destabilizing peace in the Taiwan Strait, Taipei said yesterday while thanking US President Joe Biden for expressing Washington’s firm stance of maintaining peace and stability in the region. Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met on Saturday for their third meeting and their first talks in seven months on the sidelines of the APEC forum in Lima, Peru. It was likely Biden’s last meeting as president with Xi. During their conversation, Biden reiterated the US’ opposition to any unilateral change to the “status quo” from either
Taiwan would participate in the 2026 APEC summit to be hosted by China after Beijing promised it would ensure the personal safety of attendees, Taiwanese national security sources said yesterday. The APEC Leaders’ Machu Picchu Declaration announced yesterday said that China would host the APEC summit in 2026. Beijing proposed hosting the summit shortly before this year’s gathering began on Friday, a national security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Many APEC members expressed concerns about China hosting the event and said that prior communication over the decision was insufficient, the official said. Taiwan brought up concerns about legal “guidelines” China announced in
SUPPORT: Arms sales to NATO Plus countries such as Japan, South Korea and Israel only have to be approved by the US Congress if they exceed US$25m The US should amend a law to add Taiwan to the list of “NATO Plus” allies and streamline future arms sales, a US commission said on Tuesday in its annual report to the US Congress. The recommendation was made in the annual report by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC), which contained chapters on US-China economic and trade ties, security relations, and Taiwan and Hong Kong. In the chapter on Taiwan, the commission urged the US Congress to “amend the Arms Export Control Act of 1976 to include Taiwan on the list of ‘NATO Plus’ recipients,” referring to
Minister of Labor Ho Pei-shan (何佩珊) said she would tender her resignation following criticism of her handling of alleged bullying by Ministry of Labor Workforce Development Agency branch director Hsieh Yi-jung (謝宜容) resulting in the death of an employee. The ministry yesterday gave Hsieh two demerits and said she is subject to review by the Disciplinary Court. The severest possible punishment would be her removal from office and being barred from government jobs indefinitely. Workforce Development Agency Director-General Tsai Meng-liang (蔡孟良) also received a major demerit and was transferred to another position. Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) issued a formal apology