Several star baseball players, gang members and former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Tainan County Council speaker Wu Chien-pao (吳健保) were yesterday found guilty of having played a part in the match-fixing scandal that rocked the domestic league in 2009, but critics said the punishments they have received do not fit their crimes.
The Taiwan High Court yesterday announced that it has determined that the defendants conspired to fix Chinese Professional Baseball League games by colluding with various illegal gambling syndicates, starting from the 2006 season.
Of the 35 players charged in 2010 in the case, three high-profile figures were found guilty yesterday: former Brother Elephants power hitters Chen Chih-yuan (陳致遠) and Tsai Fong-an (蔡豐安), and former La New Bears ace pitcher Chang Chih-chia (張誌家).
Photo: CNA
The High Court’s ruling reduced the trio’s original jail terms from one to two-and-a-half years, to between four and six months. Chen and Tsai can commute their jail terms by paying a fine of NT$162,000 (US$5,400) each, while Chang can do so with a NT$120,000 payment.
The 2009 game-fixing scandal was the fifth to have erupted in the league and is known as the “Windshield Wiper” (雨刷) baseball scandal because Tsai Cheng-yi (蔡政宜), the alleged mastermind behind the main gambling syndicate, is nicknamed “The Windshield Wiper.”
Tsai Cheng-yi got a jail sentence of three years and eight months in yesterday’s verdict, which cannot be commuted to a fine.
Photo: CNA
In the ruling, the court also found Wu guilty of financing Tsai Cheng-yi and his “Windshield Wiper” gambling syndicate and sentenced the former council speaker to three years and two months in jail.
Another key figure named in the ruling is Brother Elephants pitcher Chuang Yu-lin (莊侑霖), who the court says was the gambling syndicates’ main contact. He received a three-year term that can be commuted to a fine.
Tseng Han-chou (曾漢州), former slugger for the Chinatrust Whales, was also found guilty and, in addition to his original one-year jail sentence, received a separate one-year and 10-month term that can be commuted through paying fines.
The High Court’s ruling drew condemnation from sports circles, fans and experts yesterday, who said the light sentences are detrimental to the sport’s development because the guilty players have gotten away with committing major criminal offenses without having to serve prison sentences.
CPBL deputy secretary-general Wang Hui-min (王惠民) expressed regret over the verdicts on behalf of the league.
“We are worried that the sentencing will not deter other players from undertaking such actions in the future and thus damage pro baseball in Taiwan,” he said.
“This ruling shows that the presiding judges do not understand professional baseball very well. It also shows that they do not appreciate the serious harm this scandal has inflicted on the sport and on society,” Wang said.
Chinatrust Brothers manager and former CPBL secretary-general Wayne Lee (李文彬) said he was disappointed with the verdict, adding that he is concerned that criminal syndicates will once again try to infiltrate the nation’s ballparks to entice players to throw games.
The “Windshield Wiper” scandal broke in 2009, when a judicial probe was launched a day after the finale of the CPBL championship series in October.
Before the scandal broke, Chen, Tsai Fong-an and Chang were popular players, as well as members of the national squad at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.
Chang was a starting pitching for Japan’s Seibu Lions from 2002 to 2006, before getting released and returning to Taiwan in 2008.
“Our society must revamp baseball in the education system,” baseball broadcaster and former national team player Yang Ching-lung (楊清瓏) said. “The student players are focused only on athletics, and we neglect their proper education in ethics and morality. Some baseball players do not understand that they must keep clean and refrain from bribes and criminal activities.”
SEPARATE: The MAC rebutted Beijing’s claim that Taiwan is China’s province, asserting that UN Resolution 2758 neither mentions Taiwan nor grants the PRC authority over it The “status quo” of democratic Taiwan and autocratic China not belonging to each other has long been recognized by the international community, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday in its rebuttal of Beijing’s claim that Taiwan can only be represented in the UN as “Taiwan, Province of China.” Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) yesterday at a news conference of the third session at the 14th National People’s Congress said that Taiwan can only be referred to as “Taiwan, Province of China” at the UN. Taiwan is an inseparable part of Chinese territory, which is not only history but
NATIONAL SECURITY: The Chinese influencer shared multiple videos on social media in which she claimed Taiwan is a part of China and supported its annexation Freedom of speech does not allow comments by Chinese residents in Taiwan that compromise national security or social stability, the nation’s top officials said yesterday, after the National Immigration Agency (NIA) revoked the residency permit of a Chinese influencer who published videos advocating China annexing Taiwan by force. Taiwan welcomes all foreigners to settle here and make families so long as they “love the land and people of Taiwan,” Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) told lawmakers during a plenary session at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. The public power of the government must be asserted when necessary and the Ministry of
CROSSED A LINE: While entertainers working in China have made pro-China statements before, this time it seriously affected the nation’s security and interests, a source said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) late on Saturday night condemned the comments of Taiwanese entertainers who reposted Chinese statements denigrating Taiwan’s sovereignty. The nation’s cross-strait affairs authority issued the statement after several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑), Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜) and Michelle Chen (陳妍希), on Friday and Saturday shared on their respective Sina Weibo (微博) accounts a post by state broadcaster China Central Television. The post showed an image of a map of Taiwan along with the five stars of the Chinese flag, and the message: “Taiwan is never a country. It never was and never will be.” The post followed remarks
Proposed amendments would forbid the use of all personal electronic devices during school hours in high schools and below, starting from the next school year in August, the Ministry of Education said on Monday. The Regulations on the Use of Mobile Devices at Educational Facilities up to High Schools (高級中等以下學校校園行動載具使用原則) state that mobile devices — defined as mobile phones, laptops, tablets, smartwatches or other wearables — should be turned off at school. The changes would stipulate that use of such devices during class is forbidden, and the devices should be handed to a teacher or the school for safekeeping. The amendments also say
RSS