Former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and his wife Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍) may face a second round of indictments, prosecutors said yesterday.
The Special Investigation Panel (SIP) plans to question the former president on whether he accepted bribes from former Taipei Financial Center Corp chairwoman Diana Chen (陳敏薰) and former Chinatrust Financial Holding Co vice chairman Jeffrey Koo Jr (辜仲諒).
Prosecutors say that Diana Chen gave the former first lady NT$10 million (US$300,000) in exchange for her seat as president of Grand Cathay Securities Corp (大華證券).
‘POLITICAL DONATION’
While both Wu and Diana Chen admitted to the money transaction, both denied it was bribery and said the money was a form of “political donation.”
Last month, when Diana Chen was summoned to give her testimony at the Taipei District Court, she told the court that she wanted to make a contribution to the country by donating money to the Democratic Progressive Party through Wu.
Koo is suspected of illegally giving the former first family as much as NT$300 million.
Prosecutors say that the former president used election campaign funds and classified foreign relations as excuses to ask Koo for donations that the former president and his wife then pocketed. This may constitute influence peddling, a charge that may be added to the original charges of embezzlement, corruption, forgery and other crimes, prosecutors said.
RELEASE
Meanwhile, Presiding Judge Tsai Shou-hsun (蔡守訓) has scheduled a hearing on Thursday to decide if Chen Shui-bian will remain incarcerated at the Taipei Detention Center where he is being held. Prosecutors have said it is necessary to jail the former president to prevent him from colluding with witnesses or absconding.
SIP spokesperson Chen Yun-nan (陳雲南) said prosecutors would request that the former president remain in detention because “the reasons for detention still apply.”
Hong Kong-based American singer-songwriter Khalil Fong (方大同) has passed away at the age of 41, Fong’s record label confirmed yesterday. “With unwavering optimism in the face of a relentless illness for five years, Khalil Fong gently and gracefully bid farewell to this world on the morning of February 21, 2025, stepping into the next realm of existence to carry forward his purpose and dreams,” Fu Music wrote on the company’s official Facebook page. “The music and graphic novels he gifted to the world remain an eternal testament to his luminous spirit, a timeless treasure for generations to come,” it said. Although Fong’s
China’s military buildup in the southern portion of the first island chain poses a serious threat to Taiwan’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply, a defense analyst warned. Writing in a bulletin on the National Defense and Security Research’s Web site on Thursday, Huang Tsung-ting (黃宗鼎) said that China might choke off Taiwan’s energy supply without it. Beginning last year, China entrenched its position in the southern region of the first island chain, often with Russia’s active support, he said. In May of the same year, a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) force consisting of a Type 054A destroyer, Type 055 destroyer,
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POLICY UNCHANGED? Despite Trump’s remarks, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio assured that US policy toward Taiwan has remained consistent since the 1970s US President Donald Trump on Wednesday again refused to make clear his stance on protecting Taiwan from a hypothetical takeover by China during his presidency. Asked by a reporter during a Cabinet meeting whether it was his policy that China would never take Taiwan by force while he is president, Trump declined to give a definitive answer. “I never comment on that,” he said. “I don’t comment on it because I don’t want to ever put myself in that position.” Trump also reiterated that he has a “great relationship” with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and said that Washington welcomes good relations with
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