The Taipei City Government has convened an ad hoc committee to consider halting the Core Pacific City (京華城購物中心) redevelopment project, as reports indicated that Taipei prosecutors would soon wrap up their corruption probe into the development and announce formal charges.
Headed by Taipei Deputy Mayor Lee Ssu-chuan (李四川), the committee would assess the outcome of the probe and any charges filed before determining a course of action, including halting construction, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) told reporters yesterday.
The committee includes officials from the Taipei Department of Urban Development, Taipei Construction Management Office and other city agencies, including the departments of legal affairs and government ethics, along with experts and academics, Chiang said.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
The investigation into the development of Core Pacific City, also known as Living Mall, in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) started amid suspicion about the sharp increase in the floor area ratio (FAR) from 560 percent to 840 percent during Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Ko Wen-je’s (柯文哲) tenure as mayor from 2014 to 2022.
Ko has been detained and held incommunicado without charge for more than 100 days as part of the probe.
He is among more than 20 people being investigated in relation to the development, including other city officials and Core Pacific Group (威京集團) founder and chairman Sheen Ching-jing (沈慶京), who prosecutors said paid NT$47.4 million (US$1.45 million) in bribes to sway government officials to increase the FAR.
Taipei Department of Urban Development officials had said they would meet within two weeks of a formal indictment, and based on the investigation would rescind portions of the FAR and revoke the project’s permit.
Taipei City Councilor Miao Po-ya (苗博雅) of the Social Democratic Party said Chiang and his administration had been dragging their feet in responding to the probe.
“They should not wait for an indictment to decide to revoke the project’s construction permit,” she said.
The Control Yuan already conducted an investigation and determined that the project had contravened land use and development regulations stipulated under the Urban Planning Act (都市計畫法), she said.
“Chiang and city officials have been too slow and taken action too late,” Miao said, adding that although most people are aware of the accusations, Chiang was waiting on a formal indictment.
“Maybe he will say: ‘Let us wait until the appeals and the final verdict on the case,’ before the city government would conduct an investigation and take appropriate measures,” she said.
“Taipei residents would not accept such a delayed response from Chiang. He and the city government are clearly waiting to find excuses to protect corporations, to drag out the process to allow the project’s completion,” she added.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS