Premier Yu Shyi-kun yesterday reiterated at the Cabinet's year-end press conference comments made earlier this month by the minister of justice that the arrest of former independent lawmaker Wu Tzer-yuan (伍澤元) is a top priority for law enforcement this year.
"Wu is regarded as a `black-gold' politician and it is our goal to get rid of all black-gold political activities this year," Yu said.
"In addition, we also hope that the courts can close more cases involving corruption, scandals and bribery. We need to get Wu back to Taiwan and wrap this case up as quickly as possible," he said.
Wu's appeal against a string of corruption and fraud convictions is pending at the Taiwan High Court.
Minister of Justice Chen Ding-nan (陳定南), stated at a press conference last Wednesday that the State Prosecutors' Office had established a special task force to track Wu down and arrest him.
The task force will lead the efforts, working with different law-enforcement agencies, including prosecutors' offices, the ministry's Bureau of Investigation and the police, to detain Wu.
"The thorny problem that we have now is that, according to our investigation, Wu is in China. That does increase the difficulties of catching him," Chen said. "But we are trying all means to get him back, including working with Chinese law-enforcement officers."
The Panchiao District Court convicted Wu on a raft of corruption and fraud charges in 1996 for his involvement, as a KMT member and director of the Taiwan Provincial Government's Planning and Development Department, in the 1992 Sipiantou (四汴頭) scandal involving a project to build a water pumping station in Taipei County.
Wu was allowed to remain free pending appeal.
In 1997, however, the Taiwan High Court upheld a request from prosecutors that he be detained.
In May 1998, Wu was released on bail of NT$3.6 million for medical reasons and barred from traveling abroad. Seven months later, however, he was elected to the Legislative Yuan as an independent legislator for Pingtung County, thereby acquiring the judicial immunity enjoyed by legislators during legislative sessions.
He won re-election on Dec. 1, 2001, and shortly afterward was named leader of a legislative delegation for a trip to Japan. The court granted him temporary permission to leave the country for that purpose.
On Dec. 29, 2001, the date of the delegation's departure, he took advantage of the opportunity to flee, leaving Taiwan.
His legislative office announced a month later that he had flown to Bangkok. The Ministry of Justice's Bureau of Investigation later said that Wu had been spotted by its special agents in Guangzhou, China.
On Nov. 19 last year, the Taiwan High Court declared Wu a wanted man after he failed to answer a summons in connection with his appeal.
An alleged US government plan to encourage Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) to form a joint venture with Intel to boost US chipmaking would place the Taiwanese foundry giant in a more disadvantageous position than proposed tariffs on imported chips, a semiconductor expert said yesterday. If TSMC forms a joint venture with its US rival, it faces the risk of technology outflow, said Liu Pei-chen (劉佩真), a researcher at the Taiwan Industry Economics Database of the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research. A report by international financial services firm Baird said that Asia semiconductor supply chain talks suggest that the US government would
Starlux Airlines on Tuesday announced it is to launch new direct flights from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Ontario, California, on June 2. The carrier said it plans to deploy the new-generation Airbus A350 on the Taipei-Ontario route. The Airbus A350 features a total of 306 seats, including four in first class, 26 in business class, 36 in premium economy and 240 in economy. According to Starlux’s initial schedule, four flights would run between Taoyuan and Ontario per week: Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Flights are to depart from Taoyuan at 8:05pm and arrive in California at 5:05pm (local time), while return flights
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
Nearly 800 Indian tourists are to arrive this week on an incentive tour organized by Indian company Asian Painted Ltd, making it the largest tour group from the South Asian nation to visit since the COVID-19 pandemic. The travelers are scheduled to arrive in six batches from Sunday to Feb. 25 for five-day tours, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The tour would take the travelers, most of whom are visiting Taiwan for the first time, to several tourist sites in Taipei and Yilan County, including tea houses in Taipei’s Maokong (貓空), Dadaocheng (大稻埕) and Ximending (西門町) areas. They would also visit