Acting director-general of the Department of Health Twu Shiing-jer (
Twu was wrongly accused in early October of sexual harassment and is seeking compensation.
Twu's lawyer, Tsai Mao-sung (蔡茂松), arrived at the Taipei Prosecutors' Office yesterday afternoon and spoke on Twu's behalf.
Tsai said that Twu wanted PFP Legislator Yang Fu-mei (
Tsai has already named Cheng Ko-jung (
According to Tsai, after the case was first made public on Oct. 1, Yang held a press conference on Oct. 3 at the Legislative Yuan and said that a cleaning lady claimed to have witnessed Twu having sex with one of his female aides in his office. Twu was the director-general of the Center for Disease Control at the time of the alleged incident.
Evidence lacking
However, Yang failed to provide any evidence to support her accusations and speculation has been rife that the allegation was motivated by jealousy.
When the media pressed her on the allegations, Yang backpedalled and said the charges were "based on hearsay."
According to Tsai, Hsu is a businessman who sells sports gear. But when Hsu was interviewed by Taiwan Television Enterprise on Oct. 3, he claimed he was a doctor from National Taiwan University Hospital and was at the KTV parlor on Aug. 6 this year, when the alleged sexual harassment occurred.
During the interview, he said that Twu was at the scene but he didn't see Twu doing anything inappropriate.
Hsu was later interviewed by Taipei Chief Prosecutor Chuang Cheng (
"Both Yang's and Hsu's remarks have seriously damaged Twu's reputation. However, none of them apologized and admitted they were wrong, so Twu decided to sue them," Tsai said.
Twu's civil claim seeks a total of NT$50 million from Cheng, Lee and Ding.
NT$1 penalty
However, Twu said he understands that Chen cannot afford his share of this sum -- approximately NT$17 million. Since Cheng has apologized to him publicly on more than one occasion, Twu said on Oct. 9 that Cheng has to pay only NT$1.
Lee and Ding would be forced to share the rest of the sum, NT$49,999,999.
Twu is seeking additional damages from the new defendants.
"The total amount of the civil claim will definitely be increased since we have two more defendants. However, Twu hasn't yet decided how much the difference will be," Tsai said.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
The National Museum of Taiwan Literature is next month to hold an exhibition in Osaka, Japan, showcasing the rich and unique history of Taiwanese folklore and literature. The exhibition, which is to run from Aug. 10 to Aug. 20 at the city’s Central Public Hall, is part of the “We Taiwan” at Expo 2025 series, highlighting Taiwan’s cultural ties with the international community, National Museum of Taiwan Literature director Chen Ying-fang (陳瑩芳) said. Folklore and literature, among Taiwan’s richest cultural heritages, naturally deserve a central place in the global dialogue, Chen said. Taiwan’s folklore would be immediately apparent at the entrance of the
Speeding and badly maintained roads were the main causes of a school bus accident on a rainy day in Taipei last year that severely injured two people and left 22 with minor injuries, the Taiwan Transportation and Safety Board said. On March 11 last year, a Kang Chiao International School bus overturned inside the Wenshan Tunnel (文山隧道) on the northbound lane of the Xinyi Expressway. The tour bus, owned by Long Lai Co, exceeded the speed limit after entering the tunnel, the board’s investigation found. Sensing that the rear of the vehicle was swaying, the driver attempted to use the service and exhaust
Central and southern Taiwan are to see increasingly heavy rainfall from last night through Friday due to the effects of a low-pressure system and southwesterly winds, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said Tropical Storm Co-May had weakened into a low-pressure system on Saturday, but that it strengthened again into a tropical depression (TD 11) near the seas around Japan's Ryukyu Islands due to favorable environmental conditions. The tropical depression is expected to persist for two to three days, moving west-northwest by this afternoon and reaching China's Zhejiang through the East China Sea tomorrow,
RSS