A professor who has become the target of public censure for making jokes about President Chen Shui-bian (
Pan Jung-kuang (
The apology came after four lawmakers with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) filed charges against him earlier in the day, accusing him of "inciting servicemen to disobey."
The lawmakers included Wang Sing-nan (王幸男), who led a group of people to protest against Pan on Sunday at the Taichung-based Chungtai Institute of Health Sciences and Technology, where Pan teaches radiation technology.
Pan initially planned to make the apology today in Taipei but gave up the idea for reasons he did not divulge.
Responding to a telephone inquiry from the Taipei Times yesterday, Pan denied that he made the jokes with any malicious intent.
"The jokes have been blown out of proportion by news reports," he said.
Though having become a target of criticism, Pan insisted that it is a matter of "different interpretations."
Pan has been under the spotlight since last Wednesday when a local newspaper exposed the jokes he made about Chen while giving lectures to officers with the combined logistics command on four different occasions in October.
The jokes include comparing Chen to a man "whose brain needs to be cured by radiation therapy," a leader "who is so incompetent that his subordinates all become crazy," and one "who needs to be put under bio-chemical experiment and sent to China for autopsy," according to the newspaper.
Pan admitted to having made only some of the jokes and said they were not as reported by the newspaper.
Investigations by the combined logistics command did not provide any evidence to show that Pan had made the jokes as reported.
The office of DPP Legislator Chang Ching-fang (
"What we have is mainly an eyewitness account from one of the combined logistics command officers who had listened to Pan's controversial lectures," said an aide to Chang.
"The officer provided a copy of a paper that Pan used in the lectures. The paper contains a picture of President Chen, which was placed side by side with some radiation therapy equipment," the aide said. "Pan also left two lines of text at the end of his lecture notes, which highly suggest a comparison of President Chen to an incompetent man."
Pan said he is willing to cooperate if he is put under investigation by legal authorities.
The first global hotel Keys Selection by the Michelin Guide includes four hotels in Taiwan, Michelin announced yesterday. All four received the “Michelin One Key,” indicating guests are to experience a “very special stay” at any of the locations as the establishments are “a true gem with personality. Service always goes the extra mile, and the hotel provides much more than others in its price range.” Of the four hotels, three are located in Taipei and one in Taichung. In Taipei, the One Key accolades were awarded to the Capella Taipei, Kimpton Da An Taipei and Mandarin Oriental Taipei. Capella Taipei was described by
The Taichung District Court yesterday confirmed its final ruling that the marriage between teenage heir Lai (賴) and a man surnamed Hsia (夏) was legally invalid, preventing Hsia from inheriting Lai’s NT$500 million (US$16.37 million) estate. The court confirmed that Hsia chose not to appeal the civil judgement after the court handed down its ruling in June, making the decision final. In the June ruling, the court said that Lai, 18, and Hsia, 26, showed “no mutual admiration before the marriage” and that their interactions were “distant and unfamiliar.” The judge concluded that the couple lacked the “true intention of
EVA Airways today confirmed the death of a flight attendant on Saturday upon their return to Taiwan and said an internal investigation has been launched, as criticism mounted over a social media post accusing the airline of failing to offer sufficient employee protections. According to the post, the flight attendant complained of feeling sick on board a flight, but was unable to take sick leave or access medical care. The crew member allegedly did not receive assistance from the chief purser, who failed to heed their requests for medical attention or call an ambulance once the flight landed, the post said. As sick
INDUSTRY: Beijing’s latest export measures go beyond targeting the US and would likely affect any country that uses Chinese rare earths or related tech, an academic said Taiwanese industries could face significant disruption from China’s newly tightened export controls on rare earth elements, as much of Taiwan’s supply indirectly depends on Chinese materials processed in Japan, a local expert said yesterday. Kristy Hsu (徐遵慈), director of the Taiwan ASEAN Studies Center at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, said that China’s latest export measures go far beyond targeting the US and would likely affect any country that uses Chinese rare earths or related technologies. With Japan and Southeast Asian countries among those expected to be hit, Taiwan could feel the impact through its reliance on Japanese-made semi-finished products and