Yuanshan Enterprise President Yang Zhiqiang.

(file photo)

[Reporter Wang Junzhong/Tainan Report] Yang Zhiqiang, the president of Yuanshan Enterprises involved in the bribery case of the chairman and vice president of Tainan City, was suspected to be related to bribery when inspectors searched Yang's company and found an ice pack with 8 million yuan in cash. Prosecutors also charged him with bribery related to election strikes, fear of fleeing, and colluding witnesses, but they were asked to return by the first-instance judge in the middle of the night on January 4.

The prosecution lodged a protest, and the Tainan Higher Court sent it back to the District Court for a further ruling; the Tainan District Court ruled that Yang should be detained at about 4:30 p.m. today.

So far in this case, Guo Zaiqin, former member of the Central Committee of the Democratic Progressive Party, Lin Shijie, chairman of Nanshi District Fisherman's Association, Li Wenjun's friend Huang Yiping, non-party city councilors Huang Lizhao, and Yang Zhiqiang have been detained and banned from seeing each other.

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Yang Zhiqiang (formerly the head of the Advisory Group of the City Council's Non-Party Alliance and the president of Yuanshan Enterprises), who was accused of being in the middle and contacting the blue camp councilors, was found in Tainan during a large-scale search on January 3 this year. There was an ice bag containing 8 million yuan in cash. Yang did not explain the source of the funds clearly. The investigators suspected that it was related to bribes, so they seized and traced the direction of the cash flow. If there is a risk of collusion and fleeing, he will apply to the court for detention.

At 11 o'clock in the middle of the night on the 4th, the Tainan District Court ruled that Yang's involvement in the case was insufficient and he was released without bail.

After Yang Zhiqiang was released late at night on the 4th, when questioning the media outside the Tainan District Court, he said that the investigation and the judge have been investigating for a long time. The 8 million yuan will be used as a mediation fund, because taking cash in and out, putting it in a cooler bag will be safer than a bank bag!

Yang Zhiqiang also denied that the new speaker Qiu Lili went around and lobbied other members to vote for Qiu. He said that there was absolutely no such thing, because Guo Xinliang, the former Nanshi speaker, was also his good friend, and he would not do this (referring to help Qiu run).

It may be that he is acquainted with many councilors. Councilors mentioned him on the phone, the election of the speaker, and the investigation unit are monitoring, so he was involved. In fact, he did not run for Qiu Lili, but came to inspect, The court participated in clarifying the matter.