Minister of Justice Morley Shih (
Because more than 10 local councilor and township chief candidates who had been detained for vote-buying during their campaigns -- as well as most of the candidates who were under investigation for vote-buying -- won in the elections on Saturday, State Public Prosecutor-General Wu Ying-chao (吳英昭) yesterday told the legislative judicial committee that "Taiwanese people are too sensational."
Shih also told the committee that he felt it was strange that most of the candidates suspected of vote-buying were able to get elected.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Huang Teh-fu (
Wu responded, "If that is the truth, then Taiwan's democracy is done."
Shih said prosecutors nationwide will swiftly file annulment suits against 20 local councilship winners and 10 township chiefs that were indicted for vote-buying before election day.
Shih said that according to the Election and Recall Law (選舉罷法), annulment suits must be filed within 15 days of the announcement of election results.
Shih added that prosecutors nationwide are still probing a number of vote-buying scandals.
"Prosecutors are expediting their investigations for the purpose of filing annulment suits," Shih said.
Chu Chao-liang (
Tainan prosecutors indicted 17 candidates before Saturday's poll, all of whom won election.
In addition to the councilor and township elections, Taitung Council Speaker Wu Chun-li (
A number of prosecutors said that they were disappointed with the election results.
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 8:31am today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was located in Hualien County, about 70.3 kilometers south southwest of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 23.2km, according to the administration. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County, where it measured 3 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 2 in Hualien and Nantou counties, the CWA said.
The Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) yesterday announced a fundraising campaign to support survivors of the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck Myanmar on March 28, with two prayer events scheduled in Taipei and Taichung later this week. “While initial rescue operations have concluded [in Myanmar], many survivors are now facing increasingly difficult living conditions,” OCAC Minister Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) told a news conference in Taipei. The fundraising campaign, which runs through May 31, is focused on supporting the reconstruction of damaged overseas compatriot schools, assisting students from Myanmar in Taiwan, and providing essential items, such as drinking water, food and medical supplies,
New Party Deputy Secretary-General You Chih-pin (游智彬) this morning went to the National Immigration Agency (NIA) to “turn himself in” after being notified that he had failed to provide proof of having renounced his Chinese household registration. He was one of more than 10,000 naturalized Taiwanese citizens from China who were informed by the NIA that their Taiwanese citizenship might be revoked if they fail to provide the proof in three months, people familiar with the matter said. You said he has proof that he had renounced his Chinese household registration and demanded the NIA provide proof that he still had Chinese