Prosecutors yesterday requested the detention of Keelung City Council Speaker Huang Ching-tai (黃景泰) on suspicion of influence peddling in a number of construction projects.
The prosecution asked the Keelung District Court to grant its request following a marathon questioning session of 12 hours, saying that it was afraid Huang could flee the country or collude with others to the detriment of their case.
The detention hearing was still ongoing at press time last night.
Photo: Lu Hsien-hsiu, Taipei Times
The prosecutors said they began their probe after receiving tips that Huang was involved in pressuring Keelung City Government officials on construction projects.
The prosecutors brought in eight suspects, including Huang, for questioning on Tuesday.
At 6am yesterday, Keelung Department of Economic Affairs Fisheries Director Lin Po-shu (林柏樹), Urban Development Bureau Construction Administration Section Chief Nien Shih-meng (黏世孟) and JSL Group manager Chien Tsai-fu (簡才富) were released on NT$100,000 (US$3,325) bail each.
Photo: Lu Hsien-hsiu, Taipei Times
Construction Administration staffer Huang Kuo-chieh (黃國傑) was bailed for NT$50,000, while Building Occupation Management Section Chief Chang Lai-hsien (張來賢) and staffer Chen Chung-liang (陳忠亮) were released on NT$50,000 and NT$30,000 bail respectively. Keelung City Council General Affairs Manager Chang Wei-chih (張惟智) was relased without bail.
According to the prosecutors, they found New Taiwan dollars and Chinese renminbi totalling NT$5 million in Huang’s office on Tuesday when they conducted a search. Huang was not able to convincingly account for the cash.
Keelung Mayor Chang Tung-jung (張通榮) yesterday said he had no comment on the matter and he respects the decisions of the judicial system.
Huang, a member of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), has been nominated by the KMT as its candidate for the year-end Keelung mayoral election.
In light of the corruption allegation, rumors are rife that the party could nominate another candidate.
KMT Legislator Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) yesterday made it clear that he would not run for the post. Former KMT legislator Ho Sheng-lung (何聖隆), meanwhile, called on the party headquarters to restart a nomination process, while calling on Huang to withdraw from the election on his own initiative.
Lin Yu-chang (林右昌), the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) candidate in the Keelung mayoral election, told a joint press conference with eight Keelung city councilors yesterday morning in Keelung: “Today could be the worst day in history for Keelung residents. It’s a disgrace and we’re all sorry about the scandal.”
“Integrity is the most important value of a mayor. As Huang is involved in a scandal at the beginning of the election campaign, I believe that all residents of Keelung would hope for a regime change to give the city a better future,” Lin said.
Meanwhile, commenting on the case, DPP New Taipei City mayoral candidate Yu Shyi-kun (游錫堃) mocked the KMT, saying that its “strongest lineup of mayoral candidates comes from a series of scandals in the housing and construction projects of the Taipei, New Taipei, Keelung and Taoyuan city governments.”
Citing previous scandals involving New Taipei City Public Works Office officials allegedly patronizing prostitutes, the MeHas City corruption case implicating two former city government officials, the recent bribery allegation involving former Taoyuan County deputy commissioner Yeh Shih-wen (葉世文) and now Huang’s case, Yu said these cases had two things in common: “They are all illicit and are all aimed at driving up real-estate prices.”
Additional reporting by Chris Wang
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
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
RSS