With mudslinging among the presidential candidates intensifying, independent James Soong (
The first case came yesterday as Soong was accused of libel by the younger brother of a presidential aide, who claims that Soong defamed him by bringing up an old accusation he had already been cleared of legally.
Su Chih-jen
Su Chih-jen said yesterday that a 1996 court ruling had cleared him of any malfeasance. Former legislator Ju Kao-cheng (
Su is asking the court for NT$20 million from Soong, whom he alleged was trying to cover up his own scandals by diverting public attention.
"Soong has been avoiding giving straight answers to questions about his financial transactions. Now he simply wants to dodge the issue by trying to put the spotlight on people who are totally irrelevant. This is all a ploy aimed at the media," Su said.
Last December, KMT legislator Yang Chi-hsiung (
Tu Yu-ming (
He also claimed Soong was making the remarks on the basis of media reports, not out of personal malice.
Yen Jung-chang (
"It's up to the voters to clear Soong of these malicious accusations," he said.
Independent legislator Lin Ruey-tu
Lin's remarks did not directly implicate Soong in corruption, but they have become a point on which the other candidates have focused.
The Presidential Office, meanwhile, issued a rare, sternly worded statement condemning Soong
Soong's comments on procurement referred to a recently released Rand Corporation report which suggested that Taiwan's defense policy and procurement decision-making processes are poorly coordinated both within the top leadership and between the civilian and military elite.
The Presidential Office statement said Soong's remarks about the report were inappropriate and a serious insult to both the Presidential Office and all servicemen.
Noting that the government has consistently conducted very careful and prudent evaluations of all arms deals, the statement stressed that Taiwan has drawn up weaponry procurement plans based on defense needs and arsenal modernization projects.
"It is regrettable that Soong has deliberately disseminated the erroneous Rand Corporation report even after the Ministry of National Defense and other relevant government agencies had refuted it," the statement said, adding that Soong should assume legal responsibility for airing false allegations against the government.
A Ministry of Foreign Affairs official yesterday said that a delegation that visited China for an APEC meeting did not receive any kind of treatment that downgraded Taiwan’s sovereignty. Department of International Organizations Director-General Jonathan Sun (孫儉元) said that he and a group of ministry officials visited Shenzhen, China, to attend the APEC Informal Senior Officials’ Meeting last month. The trip went “smoothly and safely” for all Taiwanese delegates, as the Chinese side arranged the trip in accordance with long-standing practices, Sun said at the ministry’s weekly briefing. The Taiwanese group did not encounter any political suppression, he said. Sun made the remarks when
The Taiwanese passport ranked 33rd in a global listing of passports by convenience this month, rising three places from last month’s ranking, but matching its position in January last year. The Henley Passport Index, an international ranking of passports by the number of designations its holder can travel to without a visa, showed that the Taiwan passport enables holders to travel to 139 countries and territories without a visa. Singapore’s passport was ranked the most powerful with visa-free access to 192 destinations out of 227, according to the index published on Tuesday by UK-based migration investment consultancy firm Henley and Partners. Japan’s and
BROAD AGREEMENT: The two are nearing a trade deal to reduce Taiwan’s tariff to 15% and a commitment for TSMC to build five more fabs, a ‘New York Times’ report said Taiwan and the US have reached a broad consensus on a trade deal, the Executive Yuan’s Office of Trade Negotiations said yesterday, after a report said that Washington is set to reduce Taiwan’s tariff rate to 15 percent. The New York Times on Monday reported that the two nations are nearing a trade deal to reduce Taiwan’s tariff rate to 15 percent and commit Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to building at least five more facilities in the US. “The agreement, which has been under negotiation for months, is being legally scrubbed and could be announced this month,” the paper said,
Japan and the Philippines yesterday signed a defense pact that would allow the tax-free provision of ammunition, fuel, food and other necessities when their forces stage joint training to boost deterrence against China’s growing aggression in the region and to bolster their preparation for natural disasters. Japan has faced increasing political, trade and security tensions with China, which was angered by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remark that a Chinese attack on Taiwan would be a survival-threatening situation for Japan, triggering a military response. Japan and the Philippines have also had separate territorial conflicts with Beijing in the East and South China
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