The Presidential Office announced its decision yesterday to advise Vice President Annette Lu (
The magazine had claimed Lu started a rumor about President Chen Shui-bian's (
"To bring this case to court will only hurt the first lady and all the officials in the Presidential Office," a source from the Presidential Office said yesterday.
Chen conferred with his closest aides yesterday afternoon to deal with the crisis and most advocated avoiding legal measures to clear the vice president of blame.
"Some members suggest that the DPP should assign its legislative caucus, or urge the Control Yuan, to set up a task force to find the truth," sources said.
Chen accepted the majority opinion of his advisors and decided to ask Lu to stop her legal proceedings against The Journalist.
"You never know how complicated the situation may turn out to be, nor can you predict how wide the battlefield could turn out to be if the case were brought to court," one official said.
"What we can do at the moment is try to help the president stay away from the dispute. For the sake of the stability of the country, it is our last resort."
Sources also said their primary concern was to protect first lady Wu Shu-chen (
"The current standing of the Presidential Office is to maintain a low profile by not making any more comments ... in order to prevent any false interpretations or unnecessary friction," sources said.
Sources also revealed that Chen was trying to prevent Lu from personally handling the crisis.
The sources said, however, that Chen would not distance himself from Lu in the future, but rather give her more opportunities to participate in governmental affairs with him.
"Annette Lu will be invited to be present at the regular meetings attended by the closest aides of the president, to establish better communication channels," sources said.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
RESTAURANT POISONING? Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang at a press conference last night said this was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan An autopsy discovered bongkrekic acid in a specimen collected from a person who died from food poisoning after dining at the Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said at a news conference last night. It was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said. The testing conducted by forensic specialists at National Taiwan University was facilitated after a hospital voluntarily offered standard samples it had in stock that are required to test for bongkrekic acid, he said. Wang told the news conference that testing would continue despite
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)