Day: June 1, 2022

The Taiwan High Court Wednesday ruled that a man given a 104-year-and-two-month sentence for soliciting nude photos from girls as young as 8 must serve a minimum of six years in prison.

According to the Supreme Court’s verdict, 26-year-old Lin He-chun (???) illicitly enticed 81 girls into sending him nude and obscene photos via social media.

Lin has been imprisoned since April 19 after he was given a combined 104-year-and-two-month prison sentence on March 10 for violating the Child and Youth Sexual Exploitation Prevention Act.

The high court judgment handed out Wednesday is subject to appeal.

Lin was also handed an additional 34-month sentence for nine other offenses, including sharing nude photos of underage girls with other child pornographers and committing sexual indecency with underage girls.

Those actions were carried out between May 2014 and July 2017 and some of the victims were as young as 8 years old, according to the verdict.

Wednesday’s judgment was handed out following a request from Taiwan Taipei District Prosecutors Office in April that the two sentences be executed.

The High Court ruled that Lin should serve six years in prison for the combined sentence of 104-years and two months, as well as one-year-and-six-month in prison, which can be commuted to fines, for the 34-month sentence, according to its ruling.

Prosecutors requested that Lin be given a concurrent sentence, which would allow him to spend less time behind bars.

The case came to light after a 15-year-old girl accused Lin in 2017 of luring her into sending him nude photos of herself. Lin confessed to all of the charges against him in a trial at Taipei District Court in 2017.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theater Command on Wednesday announced a new round of large-scale military exercise in the vicinity of Taiwan, as United States Senator Tammy Duckworth concluded a three-day visit to the country.

In a press release, Senior Colonel Shi Yi (??), spokesperson for the PLA Eastern Theater Command, said that the latest drill – China’s third large-scale military exercise in the vicinity of Taiwan in the past month – was a “necessary action taken in response to U.S.-Taiwan collusion.”

In response, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense (MND) told CNA that the nation’s armed forces had a full grasp of all PLA’s military maneuvers in the vicinity of the Taiwan Strait.

The MND said that Taiwan’s armed forces would take “appropriate responsive measures” accordingly, without elaborating.

Commenting on the PLA’s statement, Cheng Yun-Peng (???), secretary-general of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party’s legislative caucus, said Taiwan would continue to welcome visits made by foreign politicians.

“We won’t change our policy due to Chinese military coercion,” he added.

Duckworth, a member of the Senate Taiwan Caucus and a joint initiator for a number of Taiwan-friendly bills, made an unannounced visit to Taiwan from late Monday to noon Wednesday as part of a wider trip to the Indo-Pacific region.

On Monday, the day Duckworth arrived in Taiwan, 30 Chinese military aircraft flew into the southwestern part of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ), the second-highest single-day total this year, according to the MND.

Duckworth departed from Taoyuan International Airport bound for South Korea around 1: p.m. Wednesday.

During her visit, Duckworth met with President Tsai Ing-wen (???) and other senior officials, as well as private sector representatives, “to exchange views with Taiwan counterparts on a wide range of issues of importance to both the United States and Taiwan,” according to a press release issued by the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT).

The AIT functions as the U.S.’ de facto embassy in Taiwan in the absence of diplomatic ties.

While meeting Tsai in the Presidential Office Tuesday, Duckworth said that there was bipartisan support from U.S. lawmakers for Taiwan’s security.

In response, Tsai said that the U.S. Department of Defense is proactively planning cooperation between the U.S. National Guard and Taiwan’s military, without elaborating further.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel

Kuomintang (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (???) will leave for the United States Thursday on an 11-day visit, citing his main goals as being to safeguard the Republic of China (ROC, the official name of Taiwan) and ensure security across the Taiwan Strait.

Speaking at the party’s weekly Central Standing Committee meeting, Chu said that as a responsible opposition party, the KMT must say loudly to the whole world that it “will absolutely adhere to its founding principles, love Taiwan the most, fully safeguard the ROC and stand together with all democratic nations.”

“We must tell U.S. politicians and academicians as well as Taiwanese expatriates that the KMT is back and ‘we are here,'” he said.

The trip is not merely for the KMT, it is being undertaken for the sake of the ROC and cross-strait security, allowing the public to see the KMT is an accountable opposition fully committed to its goals, he said.

Chu will make stops in Washington, New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles during the 11-day trip, accompanied by KMT Vice Chairman Andrew Hsia (???), head of the KMT Department of International Affairs Alexander Huang (???) and KMT Legislator Chen I-hsin (???).

According to Hsia, one of the major goals of Chu’s U.S. visit is to attend the plaque-unveiling ceremony to reopen the KMT’s liaison office in Washington on June 8.

In addition, Chu will will also meet representatives from a wide range of sectors and exchange views on the deepening of U.S.-Taiwan relations and the situation in the Indo-Pacific region.

The KMT must demonstrate its commitment to U.S. ties through actions and dispel lies that “the party is anti-American” by stepping up communication with U.S. politicians across party lines, local media and think tanks.

In addition, relaying the unadulterated voices of Taiwan’s people to Washington will enable the U.S. to better make correct judgments in cross-strait situations and play a critical role as a stabilizing force in the region, Hsiao stressed.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel