A fugitive former senior executive of the bankrupt Chung Shing Bank, convicted in a scandal involving NT$7.4 billion (US$239 million) in illegal loans, was repatriated from China yesterday, law enforcement authorities said.
Wang Hsuan-jen (王宣仁), a former general manager of the Kaohsiung-based bank who fled to China in May last year, was repatriated from Fuzhou City, Fujian Province, to Matsu aboard the Chinese ferry The Strait.
After arriving in Matsu, Wang was airlifted aboard a police helicopter to Taipei under the escort of Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) officials.
PHOTO: CHIU CHUN-FU, TAIPEI TIMES
The repatriation made Wang the first major Taiwanese economic criminal to be repatriated from China since the Kinmen Agreement was signed on Sept. 12, 1990.
CIB officials said Chinese authorities had planned to repatriate Wang on Jan. 29, but this was postponed as a result of inclement weather and rough seas.
APPRECIATION
Taiwanese prosecutors have expressed appreciation toward China for taking the initiative to arrest Wang in Shanghai on Jan. 24.
The prosecutors urged China to continue to cooperate with Taiwan by repatriating other notorious Taiwanese fugitives, including former Chung Shing Bank chairman Wang Yu-yun (
Wang Hsuan-jen, who is not related to Wang Yu-yun and Wang Chih-hsiung, was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison in April last year for his role in the illegal loan case involving Taiwan Pineapple Corp. He fled Taiwan before he was due to begin serving his sentence on May 3 last year.
Wang Hsuan-jen was convicted of conspiring with Pineapple Corp chairman Huang Tsung-hung (
AUCTION
Chung Shing Bank was auctioned off by the government-run Central Deposit Insurance Corp to Union Bank of Taiwan in 2005.
Wang Hsuan-jen was one of 25 Taiwanese criminals repatriated from China yesterday. The other 24 included fugitives and those who have served their time in China.
Meanwhile, Taiwanese authorities repatriated Chinese hijacker Wong Zhihua (
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
Taiwanese celebrities Hank Chen (陳漢典) and Lulu Huang (黃路梓茵) announced yesterday that they are planning to marry. Huang announced and posted photos of their engagement to her social media pages yesterday morning, joking that the pair were not just doing marketing for a new show, but “really getting married.” “We’ve decided to spend all of our future happy and hilarious moments together,” she wrote. The announcement, which was later confirmed by the talent agency they share, appeared to come as a surprise even to those around them, with veteran TV host Jacky Wu (吳宗憲) saying he was “totally taken aback” by the news. Huang,