Former Hsinchu mayor Tsai Jen-chien (蔡仁堅), erstwhile boyfriend of the one-time Hsinchu City Bureau of Cultural Affairs chief Chu Mei-feng (璩美鳳), was yesterday issued with a summons to go to the Taipei District Prosecutors' Office.
Meanwhile, in the Legislative Yuan yesterday, Minister of Justice Chen Ding-nan (陳定南) vehemently asserted his innocence on charges made by some lawmakers that he, because he is a friend of Tsai's, may have interfered in the investigation into the secret filming of a sex VCD.
The summons requires that Tsai report to prosecutors as a potential witness in that investigation.
"The reason why we are summoning him as a `potential witness' instead of as a `witness' is that other than Kuo Yu-ling (
Kuo, a "spiritual growth" instructor at a religious-healing center called Avatar, has admitted to prosecutors that she installed the equipment that made the VCD possible, but said that she acted on the orders of somebody else whom she has refused to name.
Chen said the task force's current focus is on identifying the primary culprit in the case and to establish the whereabouts of the original tape. Investigators have obtained Kuo's telephone records and notebooks and found the name and telephone number of Tsai among them.
"On the basis of what we have established," Chen said, "prosecutors believe there is more than a good chance that there might be more than one original tape and that the main culprit still possesses them. Tsai might know this person or be able to provide more clues to help us figure out who it is.
"But don't get me wrong," he continued. "Tsai's summons does not mean that he will be treated as a witness or suspect. Prosecutors need him to clear up certain questions to which, obviously, current evidence suggests he could be key."
He said that the summons would notify Tsai to attend the prosecutors' office at an appointed time, which he was not at liberty to divulge, before this week comes to an end.
Meanwhile, answering questions at the Judicial Committee of the Legislative Yuan yesterday morning, Minister Chen said that in the investigation of cases prosecutors are no longer influenced by politics.
"Unconfirmed information and rumors, on the other hand, can affect an investigation," he said.
"Many people have suspected me of interfering due to my friendship with Tsai," Chen said. "Actually, that was a malicious rumor and the truth is that I have never been involved in the investigation. That is our prosecutors' job and, at the moment, I think they're doing quite well."
Continuing to state his innocence, he said, "Moreover, this is just an ordinary criminal case. I don't believe that any politician would interfere in a case like this."
"What makes you believe that any government official would speak for a former city mayor and get involved in a case like this?" he said.
GEARING UP: An invasion would be difficult and would strain China’s forces, but it has conducted large-scale training supporting an invasion scenario, the report said China increased its military pressure on Taiwan last year and took other steps in preparation for a potential invasion, an annual report published by the US Department of Defense on Wednesday showed. “Throughout 2023, Beijing continued to erode longstanding norms in and around Taiwan by employing a range of pressure tactics against Taiwan,” the report said, which is titled “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China (PRC) 2024.” The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) “is preparing for a contingency to unify Taiwan with the PRC by force, if perceived as necessary by Beijing, while simultaneously deterring, delaying or denying
PEACEFUL RESOLUTION: A statement issued following a meeting between Australia and Britain reiterated support for Taiwan and opposition to change in the Taiwan Strait Canada should support the peaceful resolution of Taiwan’s destiny according to the will of Taiwanese, Canadian lawmakers said in a resolution marking the second anniversary of that nation’s Indo-Pacific strategy on Monday. The Canadian House of Commons committee on Canada-Chinese relations made the comment as part of 34 recommendations for the new edition of the strategy, adding that Ottawa should back Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations. Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, first published in October 2022, emphasized that the region’s security, trade, human rights, democracy and environmental protection would play a crucial role in shaping Canada’s future. The strategy called for Canada to deepen
QUICK LOOK: The amendments include stricter recall requirements and Constitutional Court procedures, as well as a big increase in local governments’ budgets Portions of controversial amendments to tighten requirements for recalling officials and Constitutional Court procedures were passed by opposition lawmakers yesterday following clashes between lawmakers in the morning, as Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) members tried to block Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators from entering the chamber. Parts of the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法) and Constitutional Court Procedure Act (憲法訴訟法) passed the third reading yesterday. The legislature was still voting on various amendments to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) as of press time last night, after the session was extended to midnight. Amendments to Article 4
‘ONE BRIDGE’: The US president-elect met with Akie Abe on Dec. 15 in Florida and the two discussed a potential Taiwan-China conflict’s implications for world peace US president-elect Donald Trump has described Taiwan as “a major issue for world peace” during a meeting with Akie Abe, the widow of late Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, Japanese newspaper the Yomiuri Shimbun quoted sources as saying in a report yesterday. Trump met with Akie Abe on Dec. 15 at the Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, where the two discussed the Russo-Ukrainian war and the situation in the Taiwan Strait. During the meeting, Trump spoke on the implications for world peace of a potential Taiwan-China conflict, which “indicated his administration’s stance of placing importance on dealing with the situation in
RSS