Former Academia Sinica president Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲) yesterday added his voice to criticism of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) actions against Legislative Yuan Speaker Wan Jin-pyng (王金平), saying it was disappointing to see Ma’s features “constantly distorted by hate.”
On Aug. 30 Special Investigation Division (SID) Prosecutor-General Huang Shih-ming (黃世銘) informed Ma of alleged influence peddling involving Wang, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus convener Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘), former minister of justice Tseng Yung-fu (曾勇夫), High Prosecutors’ Office Head Prosecutor Chen Shou-huang (陳守煌) and High Prosecutors’ Office prosecutor Lin Shiow-tao (林秀濤).
Speaking at a seminar organized by Taiwan Brain Trust yesterday, Lee said the judiciary system needed reform.
Ma’s handling of the current crisis was not appropriate, Lee said.
The situation involved two different investigations, one in which Ker was sentenced to six months in prison for breach of trust and violating the Business Accounting Act (商業會計法), and the other where Ker was suspected of having accepted bribes and peddling influence in a 2010 High Court judges’ bribery case.
The Taipei District Court gave the SID, then looking into the bribery case, permission to wiretap Ker in 2010. The case was closed and the wiretap approval rescinded on Sept. 5 when the SID confirmed that Ker had not been involved in the judges’ bribery case.
The Supreme Court handed back the breach of trust case for retrial earlier this year, recommending Ker be found “not guilty,” but during the wiretap period the SID recorded a conversation between Wang and Ker in which Ker said he hoped the prosecutors would not continue litigation, and Wang replied that Tseng would take care of it.
Tseng tendered his resignation on Saturday.
On Monday Ma accused Wang of peddling his influence and said he had brought “shame on Taiwan’s judiciary and democratic history.” Yesterday he added that “Wang was no longer fit to carry on as Legislative Speaker.”
Commenting on Ma’s “uncharacteristically” tough line and active participation in the matter, Lee said, “I hope that our president can maintain his customary smile, and take us to a greater future, instead of wearing a face distorted by hate all the time.”
Lee also said that the Taiwanese public still believed in what Ma can achieve and still had hope, but also added that Ma’s recent record was very disappointing.
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
RSS