Magazine says Lu source of rumor

The source of recent rumors that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was having an affair with one of his top aides was none other than Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) -- according to the cover story of this week's edition of The Journalist (新新聞周刊).

In a hurried press conference after the story was released, Lu lambasted the magazine, accusing it of plotting a conspiracy.

"This is definitely a political conspiracy and [the one who spread the rumor] was someone else," Lu said.

"Someone who is so vicious as to attack the president with his right hand and the vice president with his left hand is definitely behind this conspiracy," she said.

Lu denied a quote in the report which said she had called a reporter late one night to reveal that Chen was having an affair with one of his aides, Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴).

Lu denied she had ever said,"There's an affair going on in the presidential office, hee, hee, hee! ... and there's something wrong with Hsiao Bi-khim."

"It didn't sound like the way I talk. If there was such a phone call, it must have been placed by someone who faked my name," Lu said after reading aloud the report, adding that the rumor was a result of the opposition parties' drive to recall the president.

Showing no signs it would back down, The Journalist too held a press conference yesterday.

Speaking for the magazine, president of The Journalist, Wang Chien-chuang (王健壯), insisted that the report was "accurate and that its evidence had been checked thoroughly."

"Sources were from different channels, but all were directed back to the vice president [as the person who spread the rumor against Chen]," Wang said.

"If the vice president is really involved in the process of spreading the rumor, it is not only a news topic but also a constitutional and governmental issue," he said.

Wang said that the focus of the magazine's 15-page report was not the president's alleged extra-marital affair itself but the sources of the rumor.

"We found no evidence to support the allegation that the president was having an affair, therefore, I would like to urge the media to direct their efforts on who passed the information and to find out the truth behind the rumor," he said.

Lu, however, said that she would ask lawyers today to file a lawsuit against the magazine because of its "distorted report."

The Journalist, in response, said it would also reserve their right to file a counter-suit against the vice president.

Lu also asked that the magazine reveal its source for the news report. Wang said that the source would not be revealed.

The magazine, in addition, interviewed the first lady Wu Shu-chen (吳淑珍), who reportedly had previously asked "Lu to keep an eye on her husband."

During the interview, Wu criticized Lu for "speaking nonsense" and said that the vice president "should go and see a shrink."

Wu said that Lu was a person with a contradictory personality who distrusts women despite the fact that she is a feminism activist. Wu also said that Lu has long had problems with Hsiao because Hsiao was in charge of foreign affairs at the DPP, an area in which Lu herself was interested.

Meanwhile, Chen Che-nan (陳哲男), deputy secretary-general to the Presidential Office, yesterday said that the president had confidence in Lu and believed that she was not behind the rumor. Chen Che-nan added that the president would ask Hsiao to remain in her post.