Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan's (
"It's a bad thing that the Democratic Progressive Party [DPP] is saying that my husband beat me because he treats me very well," she told reporters at the pan-blue alliance's campaign headquarters yesterday evening.
Her appearance came several hours after a former neighbor of the couple had issued a statement saying that he had heard of rumors decades ago that Lien beat his wife.
Lin Fu-shen (
Lin's statement said that when he was a neighbor of the Lien family between 1968 and 1970, he heard Lien's maid saying Lien would sometimes beat his wife.
Lin and Lien were members of National Taiwan University's political science department at the time.
"Mr Lien Chan's maid would come to my place to chat with my maid, talking about some episodes in the Lien family's life," the 76-year old Lin wrote.
"[Lien's maid said] Lien sometimes would abuse and beat Fang Yu," Lin wrote.
Lien Fang Yu appeared at the campaign headquarters along with a woman who had worked as a maid for the Lien family during the period mentioned by Lin.
The woman, surnamed Wen, told reporters that she had been surprised by allegations that Lien Chan was a wifebeater because he and his wife were a loving couple.
She said she had worked for the couple for seven years and had never seen the KMT chief beat his wife.
In a phone call with the Taipei Times earlier in the day, Lin said that he and Lien were friends.
"I just happened to hear the chitchat between the maids when I was in the living room when they were talking in there. I did not ask for further details," Lin said.
"I issued the statement because I watched the debate between the two presidential candidates, and when Chen [Shui-bian (
"But Chen was not saying that anyone was a wifebeater, and so I decided to issue my statement," Lin said.
Lin's statement enraged the KMT.
"The incident mentioned by Lin Fu-shen in his statement happened over 30 years ago, and it was hearsay from his maid. It was not something he saw personally. If Lin really knows that Lien beats his wife, why doesn't he show up [in public]?" said KMT spokeswoman Kuo Su-chun (
Kuo urged the DPP to refrain from mudslinging in the campaign and refocus its election strategy on national policies.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
An exhibition celebrating Taiwan and Japan’s comic culture opened on Saturday in Taichung, featuring a section that explores Taiwanese reproductions of Japanese comics from when martial law limited Japanese representation. “A Century of Manga Culture: An Encounter of Taiwan and Japan’s Youth” held its Taiwan opening ceremony at Taichung’s National Taiwan Museum of Comics after an initial one-month run in Japan’s Kyoto International Manga Museum between May 24 and June 24. Much like the Kyoto exhibition, the show mainly celebrates the comic connection between Taiwan and Japan through late Taiwanese comic book
RSS