Former Vice Premier Cheng Wen-tsan attends 1st day of corruption trial

Taipei, Dec. 19 (CNA) Taiwan's Former Vice Premier Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) appeared in court on Thursday for the start of his trial over corruption charges.

"I deny the charges," Cheng said during the preparatory hearing held from 9:30 a.m. at the Taoyuan District Court.

The former high-ranking Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) official told the court that the prosecution has "misunderstandings" concerning the case and said he trusted that he would be acquitted.

Cheng stands accused of accepting bribes while serving as Taoyuan mayor to broker an industrial development project in the city's Hwa Ya Technology Park.

According to the prosecutors' indictment, the former head of an industrial zone planning committee in Linkou District, Liao Chun-sung (廖俊松), visited Cheng's official residence and deposited a black bag containing NT$5 million (US$152,945) in cash on Sept. 14, 2017.

Speaking in court, Cheng said that Liao, who has already admitted guilt in relation to the case, came to his residence to drink tea but that the development project was not discussed during their "brief conversation."

Moreover, Cheng said he was not in the room when Liao deposited the bag and only found it the next day. He told the court that he repeatedly asked Liao to take the bag back, but his former house guest did not come to retrieve it.

As a result, Cheng said he contacted Liao's son, Liao Li-ting (廖力廷), and personally returned the bag to the younger man's residence in Taipei.

Cheng denied looking inside the bag.

In late August, prosecutors recommended a 12-year jail sentence for Cheng when he was indicted and released on bail of NT$28 million, the highest bail given to a political figure in recent years.

Since then, Cheng has been required to remain at his residence and not communicate with persons involved in the case, as per his bail conditions.

Cheng, 57, served as vice premier from Jan. 31, 2023, to May 20, 2024, during Tsai Ing-wen's (蔡英文) second term as president. Before that, he was the first mayor of the newly established Taoyuan special municipality from 2014 to 2022.