Vice President of the Judicial Yuan Cheng Chung-mo (
Local Chinese-language newspaper the Apple Daily made the allegations yesterday and published several pictures of Cheng entering a motel with a woman, saying they spent 70 minutes there.
The newspaper alleged Cheng, 69, is having extramarital relations with a woman surnamed Wang, who is 30 years his junior.
Cheng got to know Wang late last year, and they then began to date, the paper alleged.
Cheng admitted yesterday that he had entered the motel with the woman, but insisted that they went there to use the restroom.
Wang had a stomachache, and they decided to enter the motel because they could not find a restroom elsewhere, Cheng yesterday told reporters.
Cheng said he met Wang last Sunday to answer some of her legal questions.
He said that he and Wang are just friends, and that his wife and two sons also know Wang.
Wang is a biochemist and teaches at a college in southern Taiwan, he added.
Judicial Yuan Secretary General Fan Kuang-chun (范光群) said yesterday that "Judicial Yuan President Weng Yueh-sheng (翁岳生) made a phone call this morning [yesterday morning] asking about the matter, and that Cheng had said the report was untrue."
Fan said "the Judicial Yuan is investigating the matter."
He added that Cheng would be disciplined if he was found to be having extramarital relations.
Y.C. Kao (高湧誠), the Executive Director of the Judicial Reform Foundation, a non-governmental organization, yesterday asked the Judicial Yuan to conclude the probe into the matter swiftly and also asked Cheng to step down if the allegations turned out to be true.
The newspaper said that Cheng left his residence in Taipei in his car last Sunday morning and drove to Wang's home in Taipei City's Peitou (
The newspaper featured several photos of Cheng, including one of him and Wang walking together outside Wang's apartment.
As one of the country's top judicial officials, Cheng once served as the minister of justice, and has been the vice president of the Judicial Yuan since 1999.
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