Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) yesterday pressed charges against former Taiwan Pineapple Group (台鳳) vice chairman Huang Tsung-hung (黃宗宏) for libel and violation of the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Law (總統副總統選罷法).
Lien accused Huang of spreading false information to the media and the public in an attempt to influence the election.
Huang wrote to the media two days ago, stating that he had twice provided political donations to the KMT. In his letter, Huang said that his donations were similar to the Chen Yu-hao (陳由豪) bribery scandal.
The first donation was made in 1998, when Huang gave NT$100 million to the KMT as a political donation to prevent the stock price of Taiwan Pineapple from falling, according to Huang. The second donation was made in 1999, when former Pingtung County commissioner Wu Tse-yuan (
The donations were both linked to Lien, and Huang implied that Lien took a part of the donations.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative caucus yesterday attacked Lien, saying former Chang Hwa Bank (
Lien pressed charges against Huang yesterday afternoon.
Chang Hwa Bank yesterday also denied that it lent money to Taiwan Pineapple after Huang paid Wu in 1999.
"We did approve Taiwan Pineapple's application for borrowing conditionally, but because Taiwan Pineapple could not have Citibank issue a letter of credit as required, the application was rejected," Chang Hwa vice president Hsieh Chao-nan (
KMT-PFP spokesman Alex Tsai (蔡正元) said yesterday that Huang and Presidential Office Deputy Secretary-General Chen Che-nan (陳哲男) were friends, but Chen Che-nan denied the charge.
The PFP caucus offered evidence in the afternoon to show that Huang and Chen were quite familiar with each other and had business relations.
The PFP produced a land registration document showing that Chen Che-nan's son, Chen Chi-yao (陳其堯), co-owned land in Pingtung County with the Dimen Arts Company (帝門藝術公司) and Huang's mother, and that they mortgaged the land together in exchange for a sum that was much greater than the land value.
"The arts company is actually an affiliate of Taiwan Pineapple, while Huang Yeh Tung-mei (黃葉冬梅) is Huang's mother. This shows the Chens and the Huangs knew each other well and even did business together," said Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀), director of the PFP's Center for Policy Research.
The US government has signed defense cooperation agreements with Japan and the Philippines to boost the deterrence capabilities of countries in the first island chain, a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The main countries on the first island chain include the two nations and Taiwan. The bureau is to present the report at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The US military has deployed Typhon missile systems to Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and Zambales province in the Philippines during their joint military exercises. It has also installed NMESIS anti-ship systems in Japan’s Okinawa
‘WIN-WIN’: The Philippines, and central and eastern European countries are important potential drone cooperation partners, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung said Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in an interview published yesterday confirmed that there are joint ventures between Taiwan and Poland in the drone industry. Lin made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper). The government-backed Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance and the Polish Chamber of Unmanned Systems on Wednesday last week signed a memorandum of understanding in Poland to develop a “non-China” supply chain for drones and work together on key technologies. Asked if Taiwan prioritized Poland among central and eastern European countries in drone collaboration, Lin
BACK TO WORK? Prosecutors said they are considering filing an appeal, while the Hsinchu City Government said it has applied for Ann Kao’s reinstatement as mayor The High Court yesterday found suspended Hsinchu mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) not guilty of embezzling assistant fees, reducing her sentence to six months in prison commutable to a fine from seven years and four months. The verdict acquitted Kao of the corruption charge, but found her guilty of causing a public official to commit document forgery. The High Prosecutors’ Office said it is reviewing the ruling and considering whether to file an appeal. The Taipei District Court in July last year sentenced Kao to seven years and four months in prison, along with a four-year deprivation of civil rights, for contravening the Anti-Corruption
NO CONFIDENCE MOTION? The premier said that being toppled by the legislature for defending the Constitution would be a democratic badge of honor for him Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday announced that the Cabinet would not countersign the amendments to the local revenue-sharing law passed by the Legislative Yuan last month. Cho said the decision not to countersign the amendments to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) was made in accordance with the Constitution. “The decision aims to safeguard our Constitution,” he said. The Constitution stipulates the president shall, in accordance with law, promulgate laws and issue mandates with the countersignature of the head of the Executive Yuan, or with the countersignatures of both the head of the Executive Yuan and ministers or
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