This Week in Taiwan 0821-0827
August 23: The Yilan District Prosecutors' Office charged 15 people including County Executive Lin Chi-miao, alleging money laundering and money flow from unknown sources amounting to more than NT$78.4 million (about US$2.5 million). Lin stated that the prosecution was politically motivated and timed after she announced her leading the polls and before her registration the following week for re-election.
Chairman Eric Chu of the KMT expressed support for Lin and stated that he is not considering to change the party's nominee. He believes that the court will rule in her favor and hold her innocent.
August 24: Two police officers in Tainan were killed in an attack close to noon on August 22 while pursuing motorcycle theft. The suspect took the police gun and fled for 17 hours. He was arrested at the Hsinchu Bus Terminal 4 AM on August 23. Two innocent people of interest were mistakenly identified during investigation.
The suspect is a fugitive named Lin Hsin-wu, age 46, who did not return to Mingde Service Prison seven days beyond his return date. The Ministry of Justice stated that the prison should notify the local prosecutor's office within two hours of the prisoner's escape at the latest, and the prosecutor will arrest the prisoner or issue an arrest warrant immediately. The warden of the prison was transferred to a different post and awaiting investigation.
August 24: The master thesis of former Hsinchu Mayor Lin Chih-chien was determined by National Taiwan University (NTU) to be plagiarized, and his master degree from the Graduate Institute of National Development was revoked. On August 24, Chung Hwa University (CHU) determined that Lin's master thesis was plagiarized, and the circumstances are serious. CHU also revoked Lin's master degree from the Department of Management. Lin became the first political figure in Taiwan to have his master degrees "double-killed." According to the opposition KMT and Taiwan People's Party (TPP), President Tsai Ing-wen should solemnly apologize to the people for her ignorance and blind endorsement which have harmed Taiwan's academic ethics.
August 24: During his tenure as Minister of Health and Welfare, DPP Taipei mayoral candidate Chen Shih-chung sealed the procurement contract for coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines for 30 years. Critics question whether there is any unspeakable secret. Academician Chen Pei-che of the Academia Sinica stated that Chen Shih-chung's explanations are increasingly being questioned. Nowadays, when buying a home, consumers can check house prices through official registration channels. The government should accordingly disclose the purchase price of vaccines. Only with honesty and transparency can the government avoid related controversies.
August 25: A video was posted on mainland Chinse social media, showing a mainland civilian drone flying over the Army's Kinmen Defense Command on Erdan Island and filming officers and soldiers throwing stones trying to drive it away.
The Kinmen Defense Command stated that the drone flew away quickly after the sentinel notified and warned it according to standard operating procedures.
Military experts criticized that the Ministry of National Defense (MND) still has no specific measures to respond to mainland drones that have infested Taiwan's outlying islands for at least half a year. The media ridiculed that if they had not seen the video, the people would not have known that the equipment and response of Taiwan's military defense were still in the "Stone Age."
The MND stated on August 25 that it has approved the use of more than NT$4.3 billion (about US$141 million) to purchase remote control drone defense system developed by the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology.
August 26: Five days after the police murder case in Tainan, another gangster attacked police with a knife. A 44-year-old man broke into a police station in Tainan on August 26. He tried to slash and kill the police officer on duty. The officer fired 13 shots in a row to subdue him. The officer was commended with one small merit for correctly using firearms.
August 26: President Tsai Ing-wen received the United States delegation led by Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn. According to Blackburn, both the United States and Taiwan love freedom and democracy. She looks forward to continuing to help Taiwan in the future, so that Taiwan can maintain its independence and freedom.
The Blackburn delegation arrived in Taiwan on the late evening of August 25 by a special U.S. military jet. The third U.S. Congressional delegation to visit after Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senator Ed Markey in August, it departed on Taiwan on August 27. Mainland China's People's Liberation Army announced that live ammunition will be fired along the coast of Fujian on August 26 and 27, interpreted as a strong warning.
August 27: The much-anticipated Ministry of Digital Affairs was launched, with a total budget of more than NT$21.7 billion (about US$713 million). Of 600 posts, 300 are contract personnel, setting a precedent for a government agency. KMT legislators criticized the phenomenon as unbelievable and undermining the civil service system.
Some Internet users compared and found that the budget of the National Police Administration, Ministry of the Interior, which has more than 13,000 personnel, is only NT$24.5 billion (about US$805 million), exclaiming that no wonder police were killed.