Government officials have filed a complaint with a Malaysian weekly tabloid that published an unsubstantiated story that an unnamed local restaurant had served human fetuses and the bodies of babies to its customers.
The publication has promised to publish a correction in its next issue.
People First Party's Chin Hui-chu (
"A Brunei customs official curiously inquired of my friend whether people in Taiwan really eat human fetuses and babies' bodies as reported in the article. The official told him that rumors had been circulating because of the publ-ication," said Chin, who invited officials from other government departments to the press conference.
All the officials dismissed the report. The Government Information Office (GIO, 新聞局) said that its representative in Malaysia had spoken to the reporter and established that the article was based on an allegation contained in an e-mail.
Perdana, the tabloid which published the article in Malay and has a circulation of roughly 10,000, is a "sensationalist newspaper," according to the GIO. In the article, the reporter accused a Taiwanese restaurant of obtaining human fetuses from illegal abortions and the bodies of babies which had died, at a price of about NT$600 each.
The article accused the restaurant of deep-frying and roasting the fetuses and babies for "specials."
Along with the report, two pictures purporting to show the alleged "cuisine" were printed, in which the alleged baby's fingers and face could be seen.
Yuan Kai-sheng (袁凱聲), a GIO official, said that he understood that the allegation had been circulating as an e-mail long before Perdana published it. "The original message pointed the finger at restaurants in rural areas of China before the alleged culprit became a Taiwanese restaurant," Yuan said.
Yuan said the GIO had filed a complaint with Perdana and requested that a correction be published. He said the tabloid had apologized to the GIO for publishing an unsubstantiated story and had agreed to publish a correction in its next issue.
The Criminal Investigation Bureau (警政署) said that investigations had not uncovered any cases of the sort described in the article, but that the bureau would keep an eye out to make sure that babies were really not being served in local restaurants.
The bureau said that eating and serving such a dish is against the law. According to the Criminal Code, people who defile human corpses may be jailed for between six months and five years.
But there are only minor penalties for the unlawful treatment of fetuses under environmental regulations governing the management of "medical waste."
Chan Te-wang (詹德旺), senior administrative officer at the Bureau of Medical Affairs of the Department of Health, said yesterday that a two-day investigation into the matter had confirmed the allegation that hospitals had been selling fetuses and bodies to be untrue.
The pictures in question may be found at the following Web site:http://vatican.rotten.com/infantiphagia/
Warning: Though believed to be fabricated, the pictures nonetheless are graphic.
‘NO SECURITY RISK’: The Railway Bureau reassured the public that the technicians’ activities were limited to technical guidance and did not involve sensitive systems The Railway Bureau yesterday said it had invited eight Chinese technicians to assist with an airport MRT construction project. The bureau issued the confirmation after an Internet user said Chinese nationals had entered the construction zone of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s Terminal 3 project. They asked why “individuals from an enemy state” were allowed access to such a major national infrastructure project, which raised serious concerns over Taiwan’s industrial safety, sensitive systems and information security. The bureau’s Northern Region Engineering Branch Office said subcontractor Taiwan Handle Industrial Co (台灣手把工業) of the Taoyuan airport MRT’s “Contract No. CU05 Project A14 Station Civil, MEP &
A US uncrewed surface vessel (USV) encountered multiple Chinese warships during an autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait, US defense company Seasats said in a statement on Wednesday. Seasats announced that a Lightfish USV had completed the first autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait. Over five days, the USV traversed the entire length of the Strait while constantly monitoring surface vessel traffic, the company said. The Lightfish encountered multiple Chinese warships, one of which was a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Type 056 corvette, it said. The Chinese vessels were operating “well within Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone without transmitting their identity via the
GREATER REACH? Auto parts and wood products would face tariffs of up to 15%, matching those targeting the EU, Japan and South Korea, Vice Premier said The US has announced that preferential tariff treatment for Taiwan’s non-semiconductor Section 232 goods would take effect retroactively from May 1, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The US government yesterday posted a notice on the Federal Register’s public inspection Web site previewing tariff concessions for Taiwan under a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Taiwan-US investment after two months of negotiations. The MOU signed on Jan. 15 stipulated three major preferential tariff arrangements: a 15 percent “reciprocal” tariff rate for Taiwan without stacking most-favored nation (MFN) rates; preferential Section 232 treatment for semiconductors and related products; and preferential Section 232 treatment for non-semiconductor
TIT-FOR-TAT: The US allegedly revoked the visa of a Chinese national working at Xinhua News Agency in the US in response to Beijing’s expulsion of Vivian Wang The Presidential Office yesterday condemned China for expelling a New York Times correspondent from Beijing following the newspaper’s interview with President William Lai (賴清德), saying the move highlighted Beijing’s suppression of press freedom and its threat to international news media. Taiwan has noted a series of recent incidents in which Beijing used similar tactics to “threaten and pressure international media outlets and journalists,” Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said in a statement. “This concerns not only press freedom and freedom of expression, but also the safety of journalists, and Taiwan and relevant partners are paying close attention to the situation,” she
RSS