Deputy Minister of Justice Tsai Pi-chung (蔡碧仲) is to become acting Hualien County commissioner, replacing Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁), who has been sentenced to eight months in prison for stock market manipulation, Cabinet spokeswoman Kolas Yotaka said on Friday.
Earlier this week, the Supreme Court rejected Fu’s appeal against the prison sentence, ruling that he must serve his term and closing the case.
Fu was relieved of his post on the same day under the Local Government Act (地方制度法), which stipulates that local government heads be removed from their positions if they are convicted of a crime that carries a prison sentence.
Photo: Wu Cheng-feng, Taipei Times
In a statement, Kolas said that Tsai would leave the Ministry of Justice and officially assume the Hualien post tomorrow.
As acting county commissioner, Tsai is to ensure the continuity of local policies and maintain administrative neutrality.
Tsai, a law graduate from National Chengchi University, has extensive administrative qualifications and has served as a prosecutor in Penghu, Yunlin and Chiayi counties.
In other news, Hou Kuan-jen (侯寬仁), who in 2007 indicted then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) on charges of embezzlement, was on Friday appointed as deputy director of the justice ministry’s Agency Against Corruption.
Hou had accused Ma of siphoning NT$11 million (US$357,607) from his special mayoral allowance during his time as Taipei mayor (1998-2006), but Ma was cleared of the charges in court.
Hou in 2010 received a low grade from then-minister of justice Wang Ching-feng (王清峰) for “inaccuracies” on affidavits in the Ma case.
The negative assessment has affected his career over the past eight years, Hou said on Friday, adding that the new appointment represents a “restoration of justice.”
He said that he did not regret taking over the Ma case, because as a member of the judiciary, one must have a sense of right and wrong.
“Cases will be handled as they should,” Hou added.
Minister of Justice Tsai Ching-hsiang (蔡清祥) on Friday also confirmed the appointment of ministry Administrative Enforcement Agency Director-General Leu Weng-jong (呂文忠) as the next Investigation Bureau director-general.
The position has been vacant since Tsai Ching-hsiang was selected to head to justice ministry in a July Cabinet reshuffle.
Leu said the appointment came as a surprise, but he is fully aware of the new responsibilities that await him.
Ahead of the nine-in-one elections on Nov. 24, his first priority after taking office would be to ensure that the polls proceed without a hitch, he said.
It has yet to be announced when Hou and Leu are to take up their new positions.
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
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
MINOR DISRUPTION: The outage affected check-in and security screening, while passport control was done manually and runway operations continued unaffected The main departure hall and other parts of Terminal 2 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport lost power on Tuesday, causing confusion among passengers before electricity was fully restored more than an hour later. The outage, the cause of which is still being investigated, began at about midday and affected parts of Terminal 2, including the check-in gates, the security screening area and some duty-free shops. Parts of the terminal immediately activated backup power sources, while others remained dark until power was restored in some of the affected areas starting at 12:23pm. Power was fully restored at 1:13pm. Taoyuan International Airport Corp said in a
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