Former vice premier Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) was released yesterday on bail of NT$28 million (US$876,369) in Taoyuan after being indicted on corruption charges the day before.
Cheng had been held incommunicado since he was detained in Taoyuan based on a court order issued on July 11.
As part of the conditions of his release, he is required to remain at his residence and is not allowed to leave the country for eight months, prosecutors said.
Photo: CNA
He is also forbidden from making contact with witnesses or other defendants in the case, they said.
Four other suspects involved in the case who had been detained were also released on bail.
Hou Shui-wen (侯水文), former executive general manager of Formosa Plastics Group, was released on bail of NT$2.05 million; Liao Chun-sung (廖俊松), former head of an industrial zone planning committee in Linkou, was released on bail of NT$1.1 million; while two of Liao’s sons, Liao Chia-hsing (廖家興) and Liao Li-ting (廖力廷), were released on bail of NT$600,000 and NT$250,000 respectively.
The Taoyuan District Prosecutors’ Office told a news conference on Tuesday that it recommended a 12-year jail sentence for Cheng for allegedly receiving a NT$5 million bribe while he was Taoyuan mayor to broker an industrial development project in the city’s Hwa Ya Technology Park (華亞科技園區) in Linkou District (林口) in 2017.
Following Tuesday’s indictments, the case was transferred to the Taoyuan District Court, which held a hearing at 9:30pm the same day.
At 1:30am the court ruled at the hearing that Cheng be granted bail of NT$28 million, the highest bail amount given to any political figure in recent years.
A lawyer representing Cheng brought the bail money at about 2:41am and the visibly tired former vice premier left the court without speaking to reporters at about 5am.
Cheng is also under investigation in a separate case, after NT$6.78 million in cash was discovered at his Taipei residence during a search by prosecutors on July 29.
Cheng, 57, served as vice premier from Jan. 31 last year to May 20 during former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) second term. He was the first major of the then-newly established Taoyuan special municipality from 2014 to 2022.
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
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
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
RSS