Deputy secretary-general to the president Chen Che-nan (
"I met Chen Yu-hao three times in 2002. The first time was at a restaurant, where a friend introduced us," Chen Che-nan said at a news conference at the Presidential Office.
PHOTO: LUO PEI-TEH, TAIPEI TIMES
"The other two meetings were at the Presidential Office, where Chen Yu-hao explained that he did not transfer capital to invest in China while leaving huge debts in Taiwan. We did not discuss donations at any of the meetings, and I have neither transferred donations for Chen Yu-hao to the president nor accepted his money," Chen Che-nan said.
He said that Chen Yu-hao's asser-tions had a political motive.
Over the past five days opposition parties have held several press conferences accusing Chen Che-nan of involvement in financial scandals. In response to their claims, Chen Che-nan authorized Presidential Office spokesman James Huang (
On Thursday some Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators asked Chen Che-nan to face the media in person to clearly explain whether he had made any deal with Chen Yu-hao.
At yesterday's press conference, Chen Che-nan denied all the claims against him, including allegations that he had met Chen Yu-hao at the China Development Group's private club and that he had accepted money from Chen Yu-hao at his residence.
"I am stating frankly and honestly that we do have a close relationship, but that I never took his money," Chen Che-nan said.
Meanwhile, Vice President Annette Lu (
"The problem is not political donations as such, but how to regulate the donation process, and placing all politicians under the scrutinizing mechanism," Lu said in a TV interview last night.
"The opposition parties, including the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the People First Party (PFP), attack others for taking money, but at the same time do their best to obstruct the DPP's plans for passing the Political Donation Law," Lu said.
"How could those two parties dare to point fingers at us?" Lu said.
Commenting on a report in a Chinese-language newspaper on Wednesday that she had also received donations worth NT$55 million from Chen Yu-hao's group, Lu criticized the media's performance and asked the media to restrain itself.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
‘SAME OLD TRICK’: Even if Beijing resumes individual travel to Taiwan, it would only benefit Chinese tourism companies, the Economic Democracy Union convener said China’s 10 new “incentives” are “sugar-coated poison,” an official said yesterday, adding that Taiwanese businesses see them clearly for what they are, but that Beijing would inevitably find some local collaborators to try to drums up support. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, made the remark ahead of a news conference the General Chamber of Commerce is to hold today. The event, titled “Industry Perspectives on China’s Recent Pro-Taiwan Policies,” is expected to include representatives from industry associations — such as those in travel, hotels, food and agriculture — to request the government cooperate with China’s new measures, people familiar with
RSS