Chien Lin Hui-chun (錢林慧君), a member of the Control Yuan and a former Taiwan Solidarity Union legislator, yesterday suggested amending laws to prohibit civil servants, such as former chief of the Investigation Bureau Yeh Sheng-mao (葉盛茂), from receiving retirement funds.
Yeh was indicted on Thursday for withholding information about former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) alleged involvement in money laundering. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said prosecutors were seeking a jail term of two-and-a-half years for Yeh — harsher than usual because the defendant was a government official, it said.
Chien Lin was assigned by the Control Yuan to work with Heng Teh-hsuan (洪德旋), another Control Yuan member, to investigate the allegations against Yeh.
Saying that they were close to completing their probe, she added that it was highly possible the Control Yuan would impeach Yeh.
Even after an impeachment, Yeh could still receive his retirement fund, and Chien Lin said the Law on Discipline of Civil Servants (公務員懲戒法) and Civil Servants Retirement Act (公務人員退休法) should be revised to stipulate that civil servants found to be involved in irregularities should be deprived of retirement funds.
Yeh stepped down from his post as chief of the Investigation Bureau on July 16. Unless the court finds Yeh guilty and strips him of his civil rights, he would still receive his retirement fund.
POSSIBLE ROLE
In related news, Chen Chun-ying (陳俊英), a sister-in-law of Chen Shui-bian’s wife, Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍), was subpoenaed again yesterday for questioning over her possible role in a suspected overseas money laundering case involving the former first family.
The Special Investigation Division under the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office said Chen Chun-ying was summoned again as a witness because prosecutors want a better understanding of how and when Wu remitted funds to ABN AMRO Bank and Standard Bank of South Africa branches in Singapore.
Chen Chun-ying and her husband, Wu Ching-mao (吳景茂), the elder brother of the former first lady, were summoned for questioning on Aug. 18, but Chen Chun-ying appeared to faint during questioning and was rushed to the nearby National Taiwan University Hospital for treatment.
Prosecutors then subpoenaed her again yesterday for further questioning.
Meanwhile, the Special Investigation Division also summoned other friends and relatives of Wu Shu-jen to find out whether they were also used by the former first lady to facilitate money laundering via overseas bank accounts.
The former first couple and their son Chen Chih-chung (陳致中), daughter-in-law Huang Jui-ching (黃睿靚) and Wu Ching-mao were listed as suspects in the case last week and have been banned from leaving the country.
SURPLUS FUNDS
During questioning by prosecutors last Friday, the former first lady argued that the US$21 million in overseas bank accounts under the name of her elder brother and daughter-in-law were surplus funds from political contributions.
During questioning on Monday, Huang Jui-ching said she was used by her mother-in-law to open overseas bank accounts to facilitate cash deposits.
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,
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