(July 12): A court in Taiwan ordered a former vice premier detained while he is investigated for corruption, the latest development in the highest-profile graft probe in the democratically run archipelago since president Chen Shui-bian in 2008.

Cheng Wen-tsan, who was the vice premier in the Tsai administration from January 2023 to May this year, must be held because of the risk of collusion with other people involved in the case, a court said in a statement late on Thursday.

He is also a flight risk, given that the charges against him are felonies, said the court in Taoyuan, near the capital of Taipei. Prosecutors have accused Cheng of “taking bribes using his position in the government”, without providing more details. He was earlier granted bail twice, but both times prosecutors appealed.

Cheng is a senior figure in the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, and has been viewed by some as a potential presidential contender. On Sunday, he resigned as the head of the Straits Exchange Foundation, which facilitates civil links between Taiwan and China.

He served as the mayor of the northern city of Taoyuan from late 2014 to 2022. 

Chen Shui-bian was the president of Taiwan from 2000 to 2008. He was charged with corruption when his second term ended, later handed a prison sentence of 20 years, and then given a release on medical grounds in 2015.

Cheng’s case is unrelated to investigations in the legislature that opposition parties have kicked off into the government. Earlier this year, the Kuomintang and Taiwan People’s Party pushed through changes to the law that give lawmakers greater power to probe government officials and others.

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