Former speaker of the Kaohsiung City Council Chu An-hsiung (朱安雄) tops the list of the nation's 10 most wanted fugitives, the Cabinet announced yesterday. A cash reward of up to NT$10 million is being offered for information leading to the arrest of any of these fugitives, regardless of the informant's nationality.
Although even PRC citizens can come forward with information, the reward does not apply to judicial or martial prosecutors, police officers, law enforcement officers or domestic or foreign government officials investigating major criminal cases.
Despite the government's efforts, a Cabinet official who asked not to be named said that the list is politically motivated.
"If you closely study the list, you'll find that only two are wanted for undermining social security," the official said, insinuating that the remaining eight are involved in political cases.
The other people on the list are Wu Tse-yuan (伍澤元), a former member of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and independent lawmaker, Liu Kuan-chun (劉冠軍), former chief cashier of the National Security Bureau, Andrew Wang (汪傳浦), a murder suspect, Eddie Liu (劉偉杰), an embezzlement suspect, Chen You-hao (陳由豪), former chairman of the Tuntex Group, Chang Wan-li (張萬利), former chairman of the Jin Wen Institute of Technology, Hsueh Chiu (薛球) and Chen Yi-hua (陳益華), kidnappers, and Chang Chao-chuan (張朝權), former Changhua County deputy commissioner.
Wu was convicted on corruption and fraud charges in 1996 for his involvement in the 1992 Sipiantou (
The Ministry of Justice's Bureau of Investigation believes that its special agents have spotted Wu in Guangzhou, China.
Liu Kuan-chun is suspected of embezzling more than NT$192 million from the National Security Bureau. According to the Bureau of Investigation, he left Taiwan in September 2000 and went to Shanghai. He surfaced in Bangkok in January last year and then went to North America. Sources said that he is now in Canada.
Wang has been wanted since September 2000 in connection with the murder of navy Captain Yin Ching-feng (尹清楓) in December 1993. He is suspected of having received a share of a secret commission for having played an instrumental role in securing the deal for a French company, Thomson CSF, now called Thales, to build six Lafayette frigates for Taiwan.
Eddie Liu allegedly embezzled NT$3 billion from Lee and Li Attorneys-at-Law before he disappeared in August. Prosecutors believe Liu fled to Hong Kong after reportedly converting the stolen funds into diamonds.
Chen You-hao was indicted on charges of breach of trust. He reportedly left Taiwan for China last August. He was accused of stealing NT$800 million from the Tuntex Group's subsidiary Tunghua Development in 1995 and investing the money in China.
The Tuntex Group is one of the country's largest conglomerates, incorporating department stores, property development and construction. The group experienced a financial crisis in 1995 and 1996, which many attribute to the alleged theft.
Chang Wan-li was accused of embezzling money from the Jin Wen Institute before fleeing the country.
Hsueh Chiu (
Chang Chao-chuan had been charged with buying votes during the March 2000 presidential election before fleeing to Los Angeles.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
MORE NEEDED: Recall drives against legislators in Miaoli’s two districts and Hsinchu’s second district were still a few thousand signatures short of the second-stage threshold Campaigners aiming to recall Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators yesterday said they expect success in 30 out of 35 districts where drives have passed the second-stage threshold, which would mark a record number of recall votes held at once. Hsinchu County recall campaigners yesterday announced that they reached the second-stage threshold in the recall effort against Legislator Lin Szu-ming (林思銘). A total of 26,414 signatures have been gathered over the past two months, surpassing the 10 percent threshold of 23,287 in Hsinchu County’s second electoral district, chief campaigner Hsieh Ting-ting (謝婷婷) said. “Our target is to gather an additional 1,500 signatures to reach