The accuracy of the fax sent on Monday by the former chairman of the Tuntex Group, Chen Yu-hao (
"Chen Yu-hao's assertion that he offered a political donation to President Chen Shui-bian (
Chen Yu-hao has been mired in a scandal related to the development of his business in China. He has been accused of embezzling about NT$800 million from a Tuntex Group subsidiary, Tunghua Development, for investment in China and was indicted on charges of breach of trust in 2002.
Chen Yu-hao reportedly fled to China in August of that year.
"We learned from other Taiw-anese businessmen stationed in China that the tycoon was forced to fax the letters under pressure from the Chinese government, because his businesses in China had come to a dead end," Tsai told a press conference yesterday morning.
The Taiwanese businessmen said that Chen Yu-hao's investments in China had been frozen. Furthermore, Chen Yu-hao could not easily return to Taiwan, having debts of over NT$6 million in his homeland, he said.
"The Chinese government is therefore using him as a tool to influence Taiwan's presidential election," Tsai told reporters.
Besides vowing to bring Chen Yu-hao to justice, Tsai and his DPP colleague Chang Ching-fang (張清芳) also urged Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) to publicly account for how he would cope with former friends and subordinates on the 10 most-wanted fugitives list created by the Executive Yaun.
Lien should elaborate on whether or not he would pardon two former subordinates -- the ex-president of Central Broadcasting System Gloria Chu (朱婉清) and former Legislator Wu Tzer-yuan (伍澤元) -- after his election, Chang said.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
TRAVEL CONVENIENCE: The program is to shorten wait times while passing through airport checks and would start for Taiwanese from January next year Japan is to launch a new program to expedite entry procedures for Taiwanese starting from January next year. The Japanese government is planning to introduce new rules to shorten the time it takes foreign travelers to pass through immigration, thereby attracting more tourists to visit, Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported yesterday. An airport preclearance program would be implemented to allow foreign travelers to finish some screenings at their departure airport’s terminals and undergo simple confirmation procedures upon arrival, it said. The program would initially be applied to travelers from Taiwan from January next year and could be extended to travelers from elsewhere depending
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
The US military is confident that it would win a war against China if a conflict broke out in the Taiwan Strait, US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Charles Q. Brown said at a forum on Saturday. During an interview at the Aspen Security Forum in Aspen, Colorado, on Saturday, CNN reporter Jennifer Griffin asked Brown about the possible outcome of a US-China war in the Taiwan Strait. “Can the US win a war against China if Beijing tries to take Taiwan, from your military perspective?” Griffin asked. “I’m fully confident in our forces. You should be too. We