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.
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation last night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by media. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan. In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20. The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon. The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistle-blower, which purportedly showed the
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or