Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (
Hsieh made the remarks after the Special Investigation Section (SIS) under the Supreme Court Prosecutors' Office told reporters yesterday that he was a defendant in the Yu Huang Temple (
The Yu Huang Temple bribery allegations first came to light in 2002 when Hsieh was Kaohsiung mayor.
PHOTO: CNA
Hsieh was accused of accepting NT$2.8 million (US$84,848) from Hsu Wen-liang (
The Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday reported that the SIS had reopened the investigation and decided to list Hsieh as a defendant "because prosecutors had discovered a lot of new evidence, which may impact on Hsieh's presidential campaign."
Rebutting the report, SIS spokesman Chen Yun-nan (陳雲南) told the press that "[Hsieh] has been a defendant in this case since the start, when the case was still in the hands of Kaohsiung prosecutors."
He added that "what you read in the newspapers may not necessarily be accurate."
Chen said that what prosecutors are working on had nothing to do with Hsieh's presidential campaign activities.
"We will do what we are supposed to do. Whether or not this will impact on his [Hsieh's] presidential campaign is not our concern," Chen said.
DPP Legislator Hsu Kuo-yung (
In his defense, Hsieh told the media yesterday that his support group had received the donation from the temple in Kaohsiung's Samin District, in 2003 but later returned the money to the temple because it feared the donation might be "controversial."
The temple later insisted on giving the money back to his support group, Hsieh said, so he decided to spend the money on buying two ambulances -- Yu Huang 1 and Yu Huang 2, which remain in use in Kaohsiung.
"It is my understanding that former Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] chairman Lien Chan (
He added that "unlike me, they did not attempt to return the money."
"This is an old case. If I were guilty, I would have been put away behind bars already," Hsieh said. "Trust me. I will be fine."
Additional reporting by Flora Wang
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
CHIP EXCEPTION: An official said that an exception for Taiwanese semiconductors would have a limited effect, as most are packaged in third nations before being sold The Executive Yuan yesterday decried US President Donald Trump’s 32 percent tariff on Taiwanese goods announced hours earlier as “unfair,” saying it would lodge a representation with Washington. The Cabinet in a statement described the pledged US tariffs, expected to take effect on Wednesday next week, as “deeply unreasonable” and “highly regrettable.” Cabinet spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said that the government would “lodge a solemn representation” with the US Trade Representative and continue negotiating with Washington to “ensure the interests of our nation and industries.” Trump at a news conference in Washington on Wednesday announced a 10 percent baseline tariff on most goods
THUGGISH BEHAVIOR: Encouraging people to report independence supporters is another intimidation tactic that threatens cross-strait peace, the state department said China setting up an online system for reporting “Taiwanese independence” advocates is an “irresponsible and reprehensible” act, a US government spokesperson said on Friday. “China’s call for private individuals to report on alleged ‘persecution or suppression’ by supposed ‘Taiwan independence henchmen and accomplices’ is irresponsible and reprehensible,” an unnamed US Department of State spokesperson told the Central News Agency in an e-mail. The move is part of Beijing’s “intimidation campaign” against Taiwan and its supporters, and is “threatening free speech around the world, destabilizing the Indo-Pacific region, and deliberately eroding the cross-strait status quo,” the spokesperson said. The Chinese Communist Party’s “threats
RSS