President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) lost a libel suit yesterday that he filed against UFO Radio chairman Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康) over his allegation that Chen offered a huge sum of money to the former Panamanian president Mireya Moscoso as a birthday gift.
However, the Taipei District Court ruled in favor of Chen in his suit against two People First Party (PFP) legislators, Liu Wen-hsiung (劉文雄) and Tsai Chung-han (蔡中涵), in the same case. The ruling ordered the two to publish half-page apologies in the nation's major Chinese-language newspapers.
In response, the Presidential Office yesterday evening said that the president respects the ruling and was glad that it had cleared up the matter, as it had affected the nation's relations with Panama.
Liu said yesterday that he would appeal the ruling while Tsai offered no comment.
The president brought the suit against Jaw, Liu and Tsai in October 2004 after they had claimed that the president had offered US$1 million to former Panamanian president Mireya Moscoso as a birthday gift.
"The issues relating to Taiwan's financing of its diplomatic allies concerns the national interest and therefore is open to discussion," said the ruling.
"Jaw used information from a Web site and newspaper reports as sources for his comments, therefore he did not make the story up," the ruling added.
The ruling said that Jaw's remarks concerning the diplomacy of Taiwan should be protected under freedom of speech.
After the ruling was given yesterday, Chen's lawyer Wellington Ku (顧立雄) told reporters that while freedom of speech is protected under the Constitution, the media should not be allowed to publish reckless and incorrect comments in name of the public interest.
Liu and Tsai, who held a news conference saying Chen had offered money to Moscoso as a gift and as a "settlement fee" for his "improper behavior," possibly referring to sexual harassment, had libeled Chen, the ruling said.
"Their allegations of a `settlement fee' were unrelated to the national interest and have defamed Chen. In addition, they were unable to offer any evidence supporting their claims," the ruling added.
Liu and Tsai said their allegation was based on comments made by Jaw during his radio show.
Instead of seeking financial compensation, Chen asked that the verdict be published and the men print apologies in Chinese-language newspapers for three days.
One of two tropical depressions that formed off Taiwan yesterday morning could turn into a moderate typhoon by the weekend, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Tropical Depression No. 21 formed at 8am about 1,850km off the southeast coast, CWA forecaster Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒) said. The weather system is expected to move northwest as it builds momentum, possibly intensifying this weekend into a typhoon, which would be called Mitag, Lee said. The radius of the storm is expected to reach almost 200km, she said. It is forecast to approach the southeast of Taiwan on Monday next week and pass through the Bashi Channel
WARNING: People in coastal areas need to beware of heavy swells and strong winds, and those in mountainous areas should brace for heavy rain, the CWA said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday issued sea and land warnings for Typhoon Ragasa, forecasting that it would continue to intensify and affect the nation the most today and tomorrow. People in Hualien and Taitung counties, and mountainous areas in Yilan and Pingtung counties, should brace for damage caused by extremely heavy rain brought by the typhoon’s outer rim, as it was upgraded to a super typhoon yesterday morning, the CWA said. As of 5:30pm yesterday, the storm’s center was about 630km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving northwest at 21kph, and its maximum wind speed had reached
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said that it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Ragasa this morning and a land warning at night as it approached Taiwan. Ragasa intensified from a tropical storm into a typhoon at 8am yesterday, the CWA said, adding that at 2pm, it was about 1,110km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip. The typhoon was moving northwest at 13kph, with sustained winds of up to 119kph and gusts reaching 155kph, the CWA Web site showed. Forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said that Ragasa was projected to strengthen as it neared the Bashi Channel, with its 200km
PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENTS: Hualien and Taitung counties declared today a typhoon day, while schools and offices in parts of Kaohsiung and Pingtung counties are also to close Typhoon Ragasa was forecast to hit its peak strength and come closest to Taiwan from yesterday afternoon through today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Taiwan proper could be out of the typhoon’s radius by midday and the sea warning might be lifted tonight, it added. CWA senior weather specialist Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said that Ragasa’s radius had reached the Hengchun Peninsula by 11am yesterday and was expected to hit Taitung County and Kaohsiung by yesterday evening. Ragasa was forecast to move to Taiwan’s southern offshore areas last night and to its southwestern offshore areas early today, she added. As of 8pm last night,
RSS