Tainan prosecutors yesterday requested the detention of Tainan City Council Speaker Lee Chuan-chiao (李全教), of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), and three others, as prosecutors said there was solid evidence of their involvement in vote-buying in last year’s speaker election.
Tainan Chief Prosecutor Chen Chien-hung (陳建弘) yesterday morning said that three or four months ahead of the election, Lee had promised several city councilor candidates that he would pay for their votes in the speakership election on Dec. 25 last year. Chen added that the amount Lee offered was between NT$300,000 and NT$10 million (US$9,506 and US$316,857).
The detention hearing began at 6pm. The hearing was ongoing as of press time last night.
Photo: CNA
Following a long investigation, a total of 19 people, including suspected accomplices and witnesses, were on Sunday summoned for questioning that lasted until midnight. Prosecutors conducted raids at 47 sites earlier that day, the Tainan District Prosecutors’ Office said.
Lee was intercepted on Sunday afternoon at Tainan Airport, where he was about to fly to Xiamen, China, via Kinmen and was taken to the speaker’s office, where a search was being carried out and then to the prosecutors’ office for questioning, the office said.
Among the 19 people questioned were five city councilors, including Tsai Chiu-lan (蔡秋蘭), Chuang Yu-chu (莊玉珠), Tseng Wang Ya-yun (曾王雅雲) and Liang Shun-fa (梁順發) — who were expelled from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) on suspicion of voting for Lee in the speakership election in return for money — as well as independent Chao Kun-yuan (趙昆原).
Tsai, Liang and Chao were released without bail early yesterday morning, while bail of NT$300,000 and NT$500,000 was set for Chuang and Tseng Wang respectively, the prosecutors’ office said.
Two other suspects, Pan Hsin-chuan (潘新傳), a Tainan DPP official, and Sung Wei-ju (宋偉儒), the head of the Rende District (仁德) Farmers’ Association, were both released on NT$200,000 bail, the prosecutors’ office said.
The prosecutors also requested the detention of Chuang’s husband, Tsai Chi-hsin (蔡啟新); Lin Tsung-pin (林聰彬), a vote broker affiliated with the KMT; and Yang Ming-ta (楊明達), a former city councilor.
Chen said the evidence the office had collected suggested that Lee, Tsai Chi-hsin, Lin and Yang were “highly involved” in violations of Article 100 of the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), which bans offering payoffs and delivery of bribes or other undue benefits in elections.
Prosecutors sought the group’s detention to prevent them from absconding, colluding or destroying evidence, Chen said.
Earlier yesterday, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said in response to the latest developments in the case that he respected the judicial process.
Chu said he believed the judiciary would not do wrong by Lee, nor would it be too lenient, because it is a mature system.
However, an association of Lee’s supporters later yesterday said in a statement that the prosecutors’ probe into the case was “tinged with politics.”
The purpose of Lee’s trip to China was to serve as a witness at a friend’s wedding, and he had booked a return flight on Uni Air (立榮航空) from Kinmen to Tainan for this afternoon, the statement said, dismissing reports suggesting he planned to flee to China.
Allegations of vote-buying against Lee emerged after he was elected as council speaker by a vote of 29 to 26, defeating the DPP’s Lai Mei-hui (賴美惠) in the 57-seat city council where the DPP holds a majority of 28 seats, the KMT 16 and the Taiwan Solidarity Union one, with the remaining 12 held by independents.
Tainan prosecutors indicted Lee and four others on suspicion of involvement in vote-buying after his election in last year’s Nov. 29 elections, seeking to nullify his victory.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
RSS