The Control Yuan has reprimanded the Ministry of Justice for allowing two Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) politicians to escape punishment after they were found guilty by the courts.
After convening on Wednesday, Control Yuan committee members agreed to serve a “corrective measure” to the ministry for negligence in its handling of cases involving former Tainan County council speaker Wu Chien-pao (吳健保) and former Ruifang (瑞芳) township mayor Liao Hsiu-hsiung (廖秀雄).
The Control Yuan statement said that during the court proceedings, prosecutors should have requested the prosecutor-general to establish personal files and monitoring mechanisms on the two men, since both were under criminal investigation and could have been a flight risk.
As the prosecutors were negligent in their duties, and the ministry was clearly at fault for failing to oversee the prosecutorial agencies, a “corrective measure” has been issued to the ministry, the statement said.
Wu was found guilty for his involvement as a financial backer of a major underground gambling syndicate in southern Taiwan, which specialized in taking bets and rigging the outcome of the nation’s professional baseball league.
Wu was convicted and given a 38-month prison sentence, but used his council speaker position to evade punishment.
In 2011, Wu was found guilty of fraud and bid rigging in a case dating from 2006 where he colluded with business associates to run an illegal sand-and-gravel excavation operation for profits estimated at about NT$100 million (US$3.08 million at current exchange rates).
Wu fled from his residence to avoid arrest and jail time, and his whereabouts remain unknown.
Liao was sentenced to 34 months in prison in January after being convicted of embezzling petroleum firm subsidies, and in March was given a nine-year term for receiving kickbacks from a public utility project by Taiwan Power Co.
However, Liao also fled and reportedly escaped to China.
The ministry issued a statement saying that Wu was convicted on fraud and other charges that were not of a serious nature, and the prosecutor in charge at the time had deemed Wu was not a flight risk, as his son was running as a candidate in the local councilor election.
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
RSS