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In the News

Ex-Taiwan leader Lee indicted on graft charge

TAIPEI - Former Taiwan leader Lee Teng-hui was indicted Thursday on charges of embezzling from a security fund, becoming the island's second ex-leader to run afoul of the judiciary.
Prosecutor Chen Hong-ta said Lee and top aide Liu Tai-ying had been charged with embezzling $7.79 million from a secret diplomatic fund.
In a statement, prosecutors said Lee embezzled the money to set up a think tank meant to serve his private office after he left political life.
"Lee Teng-hui pocketed $7.79 million for his own personal use through money-laundering," the statement said. "In order to set up the Taiwan Research Institute, he consulted with his advisers and decided to get the money from a security bureau project fund."
Prosecutors began looking into the case after Lee stepped down in 2000, and three years later charged the bureau's chief accountant with corruption. Those charges were eventually dropped for lack of evidence.

Lee has repeatedly denied embezzling the fund. His office had no immediate comment Thursday but said his lawyers would hold a news conference later in the day.

Ai Weiwei released on bail

Pubdate:2011-06-24 13:05Source: Author: Hits: 1
BEIJING, June 22 (Xinhua) -- The Beijing police department said Wednesday that Ai Weiwei has been released on bail because of his good attitude in confessing his crimes as well as a chronic disease he suffers from.
The decision comes also in consideration of the fact that Ai has repeatedly said he is willing to pay the taxes he evaded, police said.


The Beijing Fake Cultural Development Ltd., a company Ai controlled, was found to have evaded a huge amount of taxes and intentionally destroyed accounting documents, police said.

Beijing police probing Guo in Red Cross row
BEIJING police have started an official investigation into Guo Meimei, who claimed to be the general manager of "Red Cross Commerce" and flaunted her lavish lifestyle online, the Caijing Magazine reported yesterday.

Guo returned to Beijing from Shenzhen following a police request, according to the report. Beijing police denied online rumors that Guo was detained.

On Tuesday, Wang Wei, deputy director of the Red Cross Society of China, said the humanitarian charity organization has reported Guo's behavior to police, claiming she had fabricated facts and disturbed public order.

Beijing police confirmed to Caijing that Guo's case is under investigation as a public security case.

Guo was spotted and photographed at a Beijing airport on Monday. At the airport, the woman asked reporters and netizens to "stop fooling around."

Guo has been under media spotlight for weeks after she boasted about her sports cars, designer handbags and villas on the Internet under an identity associated with China's Red Cross. Netizens are questioning whether the charity organization has been misusing donors' money.

Though the Red Cross issued three statements on its website trying to clarify the situation and denying any links with Guo, the controversy continues to linger among netizens and has attracted media attention.

The Red Cross on Tuesday held a press conference, again dispelling rumors about its fund management and suspicious ties with Guo.

China's legislature adopts administrative mandatory law to better regulate government power

BEIJING, June 30 (Xinhua) -- China's top legislature on Thursday adopted an amendment to the country's individual income tax law. The amendment raises the monthly tax exemption threshold from 2,000 yuan (307.7 U.S. dollars) to 3,500 yuan (538.5 U.S. dollars).
The adjusted threshold is 500 yuan greater than the amount originally proposed in a previous draft of the amendment, which was submitted to the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee on Monday for its second reading.
The new exemption threshold was agreed upon after the legislature held two meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday to listen to its members' opinions. It was during these meetings that the NPC's Law Committee proposed raising the threshold to 3,500 yuan.
The amendment was "necessary and timely" and will reduce tax burdens for people with low incomes, as well as help to adjust the distribution of income, according to the committee's proposal.
The previous law stated that individuals who earn less than 2,000 yuan (307.7 U.S. dollars) per month are not required to pay income taxes. The draft amendment, submitted for its first reading on April 20, proposed raising the threshold to 3,000 yuan per month.
Many of the nation's citizens previously voiced their dissatisfaction with the 3,000-yuan threshold, appealing to lawmakers to reconsider the amendment.
Before the NPC Standing Committee started its second reading on Monday, the legislature publicized suggestions and opinions solicited from online taxpayers, hoping to acquire useful ideas for lawmakers to consider in their reading of the draft amendment.
Of the 82,707 citizens who commented on the draft amendment, about 83 percent suggested raising the threshold to 3,500 yuan, while 62 percent favored raising it even higher.

 
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