Yilan County Commissioner Lin Zi-miao (林姿妙) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and other county government officials were yesterday summoned by the Yilan District Prosecutors’ Office as part of an investigation into a suspected corruption case.
Prosecutors’ office personnel searched more than 30 locations before 1pm yesterday — including Lin’s government-assigned housing, her private residence, and Yilan County and Bureau of Land Administration Director Yang Chung-ming’s (楊崇明) office.
Prosecutors said the search was conducted in conjunction with officials from the Ministry of Justice’s Agency Against Corruption, and the search warrants were approved by the county district court.
Photo: Tsai Yun-jung, Taipei Times
The agency has not provided more information as to the focus or progress of the investigation.
Luodong Township Mayor (羅東) Wu Chiu-ling’s (吳秋齡) office was also searched, prosecutors said.
Wu was among those summoned for questioning about the case, along with Yilan County Department of Economic Affairs Acting Director Wu Chao-chin (吳朝琴), Yilan County Department of Transportation Director Huang Chih-liang (黃志良) and Yilan County Government Secretariat Director Tseng Cheng-yang (曾成陽), they said.
Yilan County Secretary-General Lin Mao-sheng (林茂盛) said that although the precise nature of the case is unclear, the Yilan County Government would fully cooperate with the investigation.
Sources in the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), who declined to be named, said that the incident would affect Lin’s bid for another term in elections later this year, adding that how much her chances would be harmed would depend on how involved she is with the alleged corruption case.
Incumbent mayors or commissioners try to avoid having their ethics and morals questioned, which is particularly true for Lin, as no Yilan County commissioner has previously been involved, or alleged to be involved, in a corruption case, the sources said.
Some within the KMT have said that they are worried that the investigation would harm Lin’s chances in the year-end elections.
The KMT said that summoning Lin for questioning was a political maneuver by the DPP to ruin Lin’s reputation.
Additional reporting by Wang Ting-chuan and CNA
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Friday condemned Chinese and Russian authorities for escalating regional tensions, citing Chinese warplanes crossing the Taiwan Strait’s median line and joint China-Russia military activities breaching South Korea’s air defense identification zone (KADIZ) over the past two days. A total of 30 Chinese warplanes crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait on Thursday and Friday, entering Taiwan’s northern and southwestern airspace in coordination with 15 naval vessels and three high-altitude balloons, the MAC said in a statement. The Chinese military also carried out another “joint combat readiness patrol” targeting Taiwan on Thursday evening, the MAC said. On
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday confirmed that Chinese students visiting Taiwan at the invitation of the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation were almost all affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). During yesterday’s meeting convened by the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) asked whether the visit was a way to spread China’s so-called “united front” rhetoric, to which MAC Deputy Ministry Shen You-chung (沈有忠) responded with the CCP comment. The MAC noticed that the Chinese individuals visiting Taiwan, including those in sports, education, or religion, have had increasingly impressive backgrounds, demonstrating that the
MILITARY EXERCISES: China is expected to conduct more drills in the region after President William Lai’s office announced he would stopover in Hawaii and Guam China is likely to launch military drills in the coming days near Taiwan, using President William Lai’s (賴清德) upcoming trip to the Pacific and scheduled US transit as a pretext, regional security officials said. Lai is to begin a visit to Taipei’s three diplomatic allies in the Pacific on Saturday, and sources told Reuters he was planning stops in Hawaii and the US territory of Guam in a sensitive trip shortly after the US presidential election. Lai’s office has yet to confirm details of what are officially “stop-overs” in the US, but is expected to do so shortly before he departs, sources
Tasa Meng Corp (采盟), which runs Taiwan Duty Free, could be fined up to NT$1 million (US$30,737) after the owner and employees took center stage in a photograph with government officials and the returning Premier12 baseball champions at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Monday evening. When Taiwan’s national baseball team arrived home fresh from their World Baseball Softball Confederation Premier12 championship victory in Tokyo, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) was at the airport with Chinese Professional Baseball League commissioner Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) to welcome back the team. However, after Hsiao and Tsai took a photograph with the team, Tasa Meng chairwoman Ku