🇹🇼Week of October 19

Prosecutors searched the office of political commentator Wu Tzu-chia and took him in for questioning on Thursday, the day before he was due to speak at a campaign event in Zhubei with Taichung Mayor Lu Hsiu-yen. His office kept a low profile while he was being held, and he had not returned by the time reporters gathered there.123

Wu refused to post bail and began a hunger strike, calling the action a judicial vendetta against him. He described the search as a raid on his home and business.413

Legislator Hsu Hsin-ying posted a black-background message on Facebook backing Wu and calling the case judicial persecution. The Kuomintang asked how, under these circumstances, the public could be expected not to doubt the neutrality of the judiciary.56

The search came as prosecutors pursue several cases touching the election season, including the Tung-ying resort farm-road case in Taitung, where former magistrate Wu Chun-li was detained and the service office of candidate Wu Hsiu-hua was searched. KMT legislators Hsu Yu-chen and Huang Chien-pin said the timing of prosecutorial action amounted to interference in the campaign and asked that the judiciary not be drawn into electoral politics.16

The New Taiwan dollar fell 1.74 jiao to break through the 32.6 mark against the US dollar, hitting a one-and-a-half-year low even after the central bank spoke out against the slide. Stocks and the currency fell together during the session.1

Heavy foreign selling kept pressure on the currency, which touched a new low for the recent stretch and stood at 32.627 at midday. The Taiwan dollar has become the weakest currency in Asia, with trading volume surging during the depreciation.23

The central bank's verbal warning singled out foreign investors as the main force behind the sharp drop, but the selling did not stop. The currency kept probing new lows after the central bank's statement.41

Scholars warned that a break below 33 to the dollar could trigger panic. The 33 level has not been reached, with the currency trading around 32.6.5

Prosecutors and investigators in Taitung detained former county magistrate Wu Chun-li for questioning and searched the service office of Wu Hsiu-hua in a case tied to a farm-road development at the Tung-ying resort. Wu Chun-li was taken in at the airport before boarding a flight north, and the search extended to the Wu family's home.123

The case has widened into the Taitung county magistrate race. Wu Hsiu-hua, a candidate, said she will stick to positive campaigning after her brother was questioned, while DPP candidate Chen Ying said the case should not be described as political persecution.456

KMT legislator Hsu Yu-chen called the timing of the prosecutors' action judicial interference in the election and said the case must not be handled politically. KMT legislator Huang Chien-pin made a similar appeal, asking that the judiciary not be drawn into the campaign.78

The Liberty Times reported that Wu Chun-li was visibly agitated when stopped at the airport before his flight north, and that investigators took precautions to conceal their movements while searching his home. The same account describes the prosecutors' approach as a cat-and-mouse operation.3

A video of a teenager being bullied spread online and drew a crowd to a temple in Zhongli, Taoyuan. Roughly 600 people gathered outside the temple in protest, according to UDN, while TVBS put the overnight crowd at 500.12

Protesters carried a palanquin, set off firecrackers and scattered fake banknotes in a standoff with police at the temple, Yahoo News reported. The temple's head, identified in coverage as running a noodle shop on Liuqiu, was targeted online, and the temple's Google listing was renamed.34

Taoyuan Mayor Chang San-cheng stepped in and said the Wuhu Temple in Zhongli would be demolished by force next Tuesday. UDN reported the demolition order under the headline "tear down the temple."1

Public Television reported that the case was a cross-school collective bullying incident, and that both the junior high and elementary schools involved had completed campus security notifications.5

The online anger led to calls for vigilante justice, TVBS reported, as the bullying clip circulated widely.2

Taiwan's legislature passed a third reading of a bill exempting people aged 65 and over from National Health Insurance premiums on a conditional basis, with the central government covering the cost. The bill had earlier cleared a second reading. TPP legislator Chen Chao-tzu said the waiver would ease the burden on adult children who pay NHI premiums for elderly parents.12

Cabinet spokesman Chang Tun-han said cutting the cake means some get more and some get less, describing the senior premium waiver as a redistribution rather than a free benefit. Health Minister Shih Chung-liang said the waiver would not raise health-insurance revenue and could strain the system's reserve fund and narrow resources available elsewhere.12

Attributed claim: DPP legislators say the Senior Citizens Welfare Act amendment cuts medical subsidies for low- and middle-income elderly people, while KMT legislator Weng Hsiao-ling called that claim nonsense. The Taiwan People's Party said the subsidies have not been cut off and are protected by a separate legal basis.34

Taiwan Forward questioned the welfare law amendment as fake asset-exclusion that in practice excludes the poor, and urged the Executive Yuan to file a request for reconsideration. The amendment's supporters and critics divide over whether the income test protects the poorest elderly or shifts costs onto younger premium payers.52

The guilty pleas were reported as a serious blow to Ko, with coverage saying the admissions by the Muke head directly implicate him in the embezzlement of the political donations. A lawyer quoted in the coverage said the breach-of-trust admission could mean Ko faces prison earlier than expected.123

The case centres on Muke, the company whose head admitted to the embezzlement, and on the Chung-wang Foundation, whose funds Li Wen-tsung admitted diverting. Ko is named in the admissions as a co-participant in the NT$62.34 million embezzlement.342

Kim Yo-jong, a senior North Korean figure, accused South Korea of carrying out 2,870 broadcasts at the border and called the activity a provocation. She said North Korea is considering resuming loudspeaker broadcasts toward the South Korean border and is assessing tactical strike means in response.123

The statements, reported on Monday, describe North Korea weighing both a propaganda escalation and a military option along the inter-Korean frontier. South Korean outlets framed the remarks as a warning that the North could mount an attack.451

The figure of 2,870 South Korean broadcasts is the specific count Kim cited in her complaint about border activity. North Korea's stated response options include restoring loudspeaker broadcasts and evaluating tactical strike methods.23

Taichung mayor Lu Hsiu-yen said she accepted the post of campaign headquarters chair for Taipei mayor Chiang Wan-an, describing the assignment as taking over in a crisis to win the election. She said Chiang spends 95 percent of his time on municipal affairs, so she will help with campaign work.12

Lu's decision drew criticism because she took leave on a working day to share Chiang's campaign duties, with one account saying she had forgotten she is a mayor. Her office announced she would lead a delegation to Okinawa the next day, describing the trip as a first for a joint high-altitude wedding and a step to deepen city diplomacy in the Indo-Pacific.34

In a separate interview, Chao Shao-kang pressed Chiang on 2028. Chiang declined to commit, saying he will do a good job as Taipei mayor and will support the strongest candidate.5

Typhoon Champi is forecast to come closest to Taiwan on Friday and Saturday, with the Central Weather Administration now projecting a track shifted further north and east. The agency's latest assessment is that the storm will not strike Taiwan directly.123

Forecasters put the chance of Champi making landfall on Taiwan at only 10.9 percent, while one expert pointed to a European forecast model that still carries what was described as a significant variable. Earlier assessments had seen two possible paths toward Taiwan, with disagreement over whether the typhoon would turn north.45

The weather agency has not ruled out issuing a maritime warning for Champi, and the storm has strengthened, according to former Central Weather Administration chief Cheng Ming-de. The most severe effects are expected next Friday and Saturday.53