Lawmakers called the president's credibility into question yesterday after a newly released book suggested that an office tryst similar to the Monica Lewinsky-Bill Clinton affair was taking place in the Presidential Office.
But officials from the Presidential Office were quick to defend President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday, calling the allegations despicable, denying that Chen was having an affair with Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴), the president's translator.
During the national affairs forum at the legislature yesterday, KMT Legislator Liu Cheng-hung (劉政鴻) cited paragraphs from the book Tang Fei -- in a Critical Era, written by Chou Yu-kou (
Although Liu acknowledged that the information has not been substantiated, the allegation has damaged the president's reputation nonetheless, the lawmaker claimed.
People First Party lawmaker Chen Chao-jung (
If the ex-boyfriend is still working for Beijing, Chen said, that could be cause for concern.
But Hsiao dismissed the rumors and the lawmakers' concerns yesterday, saying she had been targeted because she is a successful woman.
"As long as a woman is somewhat accomplished in her career, people will say [her achievements] have been gained by means of a physical relationship with others. This is upsetting," Hsiao said.
Hsiao said she was loyal to Taiwan, and that her relationship with her ex-boyfriend had ended years ago.
Chen, for his part, declined to comment on the allegations, sternly refusing media questions on the subject during a visit to an incinerator in Kaohsiung County yesterday.
Yu Shyi-kun, secretary-general to the Presidential Office, called the allegations a disgraceful way to slander the name of the president, or anybody else, for that matter.
DPP Secretary-General Wu Nai-jen (吳乃仁) said the "baseless" accusation wouldn't affect the public's view of Chen, and that the charges would only leave the public with a bitter taste for politics and those who repeat the allegations.
Another official from the Presidential Office, who declined to be identified, said that the opposition's rumor-mongering was intended to discredit the president's leadership and decision-making process.
"Since Chen took office, the criticism has been focused on Chen's excessive reliance on a group of young aides, all of whom are in their early 30s and have been working for Chen since he was the mayor of Taipei," the source said.
The allegations "are merely another wave in an attack [on the president] because Hsiao happens to be a brilliant and charming woman, who works closely with Chen."
President Chen himself did not respond to the rumor yesterday.
Chou herself was involved in a sex scandal in early 1998 when she claimed that both she and another socialite had had adulterous affairs with Hwang Yih-jiau (
Hwang allegedly persuaded both women to have abortions when they each became pregnant.
Nvidia Corp yesterday unveiled its new high-speed interconnect technology, NVLink Fusion, with Taiwanese application-specific IC (ASIC) designers Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯) and MediaTek Inc (聯發科) among the first to adopt the technology to help build semi-custom artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure for hyperscalers. Nvidia has opened its technology to outside users, as hyperscalers and cloud service providers are building their own cost-effective AI chips, or accelerators, used in AI servers by leveraging ASIC firms’ designing capabilities to reduce their dependence on Nvidia. Previously, NVLink technology was only available for Nvidia’s own AI platform. “NVLink Fusion opens Nvidia’s AI platform and rich ecosystem for
WARNING: From Jan. 1 last year to the end of last month, 89 Taiwanese have gone missing or been detained in China, the MAC said, urging people to carefully consider travel to China Lax enforcement had made virtually moot regulations banning civil servants from making unauthorized visits to China, the Control Yuan said yesterday. Several agencies allowed personnel to travel to China after they submitted explanations for the trip written using artificial intelligence or provided no reason at all, the Control Yuan said in a statement, following an investigation headed by Control Yuan member Lin Wen-cheng (林文程). The probe identified 318 civil servants who traveled to China without permission in the past 10 years, but the true number could be close to 1,000, the Control Yuan said. The public employees investigated were not engaged in national
CAUSE AND EFFECT: China’s policies prompted the US to increase its presence in the Indo-Pacific, and Beijing should consider if this outcome is in its best interests, Lai said China has been escalating its military and political pressure on Taiwan for many years, but should reflect on this strategy and think about what is really in its best interest, President William Lai (賴清德) said. Lai made the remark in a YouTube interview with Mindi World News that was broadcast on Saturday, ahead of the first anniversary of his presidential inauguration tomorrow. The US has clearly stated that China is its biggest challenge and threat, with US President Donald Trump and US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth repeatedly saying that the US should increase its forces in the Indo-Pacific region
ALL TOGETHER: Only by including Taiwan can the WHA fully exemplify its commitment to ‘One World for Health,’ the representative offices of eight nations in Taiwan said The representative offices in Taiwan of eight nations yesterday issued a joint statement reiterating their support for Taiwan’s meaningful engagement with the WHO and for Taipei’s participation as an observer at the World Health Assembly (WHA). The joint statement came as Taiwan has not received an invitation to this year’s WHA, which started yesterday and runs until Tuesday next week. This year’s meeting of the decisionmaking body of the WHO in Geneva, Switzerland, would be the ninth consecutive year Taiwan has been excluded. The eight offices, which reaffirmed their support for Taiwan, are the British Office Taipei, the Australian Office Taipei, the
RSS