Taipei prosecutors said yesterday they suspected that Fubon Financial Holding Co chief investment officer Daniel Chiang (蔣國樑) had fled the country.
Chiang was detained by the Taipei District Court last July on allegations of insider trading, but after his attorneys filed an appeal saying Chiang suffered from diabetes and his health condition would worsen if he stayed in jail, the court released him on NT$5 million (US$165,000) bail in September. He was also prohibited from moving out of his current residence or from leaving the country.
Prosecutors said Chiang failed to answer a summons twice this month, adding that they would issue an arrest warrant if Chiang failed to appear for a third time.
They said they had issued a warning to customs officials and police to prevent Chiang from leaving the country.
Two of Chiang’s attorneys told the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) that they had been unable to contact Chiang.
The attorneys said they would continue to look for him.
Chiang is suspected of earning more than NT$100 million from the alleged insider trading of Hsinchu International Bank shares in connection with Standard Chartered Bank’s acquisition of the Hsinchu lender in 2006.
National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology (NKUST) yesterday promised it would increase oversight of use of Chinese in course materials, following a social media outcry over instances of simplified Chinese characters being used, including in a final exam. People on Threads wrote that simplified Chinese characters were used on a final exam and in a textbook for a translation course at the university, while the business card of a professor bore the words: “Taiwan Province, China.” Photographs of the exam, the textbook and the business card were posted with the comments. NKUST said that other members of the faculty did not see
The Taipei City Government yesterday said contractors organizing its New Year’s Eve celebrations would be held responsible after a jumbo screen played a Beijing-ran television channel near the event’s end. An image showing China Central Television (CCTV) Channel 3 being displayed was posted on the social media platform Threads, sparking an outcry on the Internet over Beijing’s alleged political infiltration of the municipal government. A Taipei Department of Information and Tourism spokesman said event workers had made a “grave mistake” and that the Television Broadcasts Satellite (TVBS) group had the contract to operate the screens. The city would apply contractual penalties on TVBS
A new board game set against the backdrop of armed conflict around Taiwan is to be released next month, amid renewed threats from Beijing, inviting players to participate in an imaginary Chinese invasion 20 years from now. China has ramped up military activity close to Taiwan in the past few years, including massing naval forces around the nation. The game, titled 2045, tasks players with navigating the troubles of war using colorful action cards and role-playing as characters involved in operations 10 days before a fictional Chinese invasion of Taiwan. That includes members of the armed forces, Chinese sleeper agents and pro-China politicians
The lowest temperature in a low-lying area recorded early yesterday morning was in Miaoli County’s Gongguan Township (公館), at 6.8°C, due to a strong cold air mass and the effect of radiative cooling, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. In other areas, Chiayi’s East District (東區) recorded a low of 8.2°C and Yunlin County’s Huwei Township (虎尾) recorded 8.5°C, CWA data showed. The cold air mass was at its strongest from Saturday night to the early hours of yesterday. It brought temperatures down to 9°C to 11°C in areas across the nation and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties,