A number of top politicians in southern Taiwan were indicted on corruption and other charges by Tainan prosecutors on Friday night, including the speaker and vice speaker of the Tainan City Council and the speaker of the Tainan County Council.
"A total of 68 defendants were indicted in three cases," said Fan Wen-hao (
Tainan City Council Speaker Huang Yu-wen (黃郁文) and Vice-Speaker Wong Chow-cheng (翁朝正) were indicted for bribery, blackmail and coercion.
Prosecutors recommended the court sentence Huang to 17 years in prison and fine him NT$100 million (US$ 2.9 million).
They have asked for a 12-year term and NT$30 million for Wong.
Prosecutors allege that Huang and Wong received more than NT$100 million from the Yiching Construction Co in order to arrange for the firm to win a construction job in the Heshuenliao (何順寮) agricultural area.
They said that Huang and Wong, as members of their council's construction committee, were responsible for reducing the budget of the Heshuenliao project from NT$240 million to NT$190 million and that the two men had orchestrated requirements on materials and other details to the Yiching's advantage.
Former Yunlin County commissioner Chang Jung-wei (張榮味), National Federation of Construction chairman Pan Chun-jung (潘俊榮), and Tainan County Councilor Lee Chuan-fu (李全富) were indicted on forgery charges for allegedly trying to arrange for other companies to be selected in the Heshuenliao tender process. Prosecutors have asked for 28-month jail terms for all three.
Tainan County Council Speaker Wu Chien-bao (吳健保) and Councilor Lee Chuan-fu, meanwhile, have been indicted on bribery and theft for their alleged involvement in illegal quarrying.
The prosecution has recommended a four-years-and-two-month sentence for Wu and five years for Lee.
The prosecutors allege that Wu and Lee illegally quarried sand from the Tsengwen River (
The prosecutors said Wu ran the Tainan-based Fu-hsin Co, which won a public bid in March last year to dredge the river's channel.
They said the contract called for the company to quarry silt from the river and deepen its channel to 4m. However, Fu-hsin deepened the channel to 13m, and then sold the dredged sand to construction companies while partially filling the channel with earth from the riverbank. The prosecutors said illegal quarrying had severely damaged the environment and endangered bridges along the river.
They said Lee had cooperated with Wu on the sand scam.
Tainan City Council Vice Speaker Tseng Shun-liang (
Prosecutors said Tseng also ran an illegal gambling operation that bet on professional baseball games.
Prosecutors have recommended a three-years-and-six-months term for Tseng.
Lee and Wu are both members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). All of the other politicians were elected as independents.
The Thai government on Friday announced that Taiwanese would be allowed to stay in the country for up to 60 days per entry, under the Southeast Asian country’s visa-free program starting from today. Taiwan is among 93 countries included in the Thai visa-waiver program, which has been expanded from 57 countries, with the visa-exempt entry extended from 30 to 60 days. After taking office last year, Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has vowed to grant more visa waivers to foreign travelers as part of efforts to stimulate tourism. The expanded visa-waiver program was on Friday signed by Thai Minister of the Interior Anutin
BAIL APPEALS: The former vice premier was ordered to be held incommunicado despite twice being granted bail and paying a total of NT$12 million in bond The Taoyuan District Court yesterday ordered the detention of former vice premier Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦), who is being investigated for alleged corruption while serving as Taoyuan mayor from December 2014 to December 2022, and that he be held incommunicado. The court made the ruling during a bail hearing after prosecutors appealed its bail ruling twice. Cheng on Saturday was released after posting bail of NT$5 million (US$153,818). However, after prosecutors lodged an appeal, the High Court on Monday revoked the original ruling and ordered the Taoyuan District Court to hold another bail hearing. On Tuesday, the district court granted bail to Cheng a second
PEACE AND SECURITY: China’s military ambitions present ‘the greatest strategic challenge to Japan and the world, Japan’s annual defense white paper said yesterday Japan yesterday warned that China risked escalating tensions with Taiwan with an increase in military exercises that appeared aimed in part at readying Beijing’s forces for a possible invasion. Japan’s annual assessment of security threats, including those posed by China, North Korea and Russia, comes as Taiwan closely monitors Chinese People’s Liberation Army air and sea exercises, including one with the Shandong aircraft carrier in the Pacific Ocean. The drills are the latest in a series including maneuvers in the Taiwan Strait last year that a senior US general said would be key to any invasion. “Because of that increase in military activity,
SECURITY CONCERNS: An FBI agent said it was surprising that the shooter, whose motive remains unknown, was able to open fire before the Secret Service killed him On the heels of an apparent attempt to kill him, former US president Donald Trump yesterday called for unity and resilience as shocked leaders across the political divide recoiled from the shooting that left him injured, but “fine,” and the shooter and a rally-goer dead. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee said the upper part of his right ear was pierced in the shooting His aides said he was in “great spirits” and doing well. “I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin. Much bleeding took place,” he