The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday denied that President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) family members or any members of the Chen administration had taken bribes from Tuntex Group's (東帝士集團) former chairman Chen Yu-hao (陳由豪), who pubished an ad in a Chinese-language evening paper reiterating his previous allegations.
"Coming just 19 days before election day, it is clear that Chen Yu-hao's action is a trick with which he is hoping to dominate the last phase of the presidential campaign," said Presidential Office spokesman James Huang (
"President Chen frankly discussed the relationship between himself and Chen Yu-hao during a televised interview last month, and therefore the Presidential Office will not respond further to the groundless allegations," Huang said.
"Moreover, we urge Chen Yu-hao to immediately return to Taiwan to state his case in front of the judiciary, instead of hiding in the shadows and trying to tarnish others' reputations through the media and ads," he said.
On Feb. 2, Chen Yu-hao -- who is listed as one of Taiwan's top 10 most-wanted criminals over his alleged embezzlement -- released "three public letters to President Chen," which said that he had provided political donations to the president and was even asked to pay money to Chen's aides.
At the time, the DPP asserted that Chen Yu-hao was just a tool being manipulated by the pan-blue alliance to assist Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan's (
Taiwan Financial Assets Services Corp (TFASC,
President Chen Shui-bian and campaign headquarters spokesman Wu Nai-jen (
A local newspaper yesterday ran a two-page interview with Chen Yu-hao, in which he said that political donations the DPP and Chen had received from his company were much more than the party and the first family admitted.
He also said that he had given a NT$10 million bribe to DPP Deputy Secretary-General Chen Che-nan (
The aide said he would speak to the tycoon's banks to try to buy him more time to pay off loans, Chen Yu-hao told the reporter from his home in San Francisco. He said he did not know where the money ended up.
Chen Yu-hao claimed that he was once accompanied by a DPP elder to personally hand over a donation of NT$3 million to the president's wife Wu Shu-chen (
James Huang read a statement during yesterday's press conference that the first lady neither met with Chen Yu-hao in private nor received any cash or checks from this businessman.
Chen Che-nan and Chang Ching-sen both said yesterday that Chen Yu-hao's allegation was merely a campaign trick.
"Chen's remarks were proven to be groundless last month," Chen Che-nan told the media yesterday morning. "The reason why he continues to tarnish us is obviously to influence the presidential election."
Last month, the DPP said that Chen Yu-hao did give NT$10 million in campaign funds during the 2000 presidential race, while the KMT also admitted accepting NT$100 million from the fugitive.
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
The Central Weather Administration has issued a heat alert for southeastern Taiwan, warning of temperatures as high as 36°C today, while alerting some coastal areas of strong winds later in the day. Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門) and Pingtung County’s Neipu Township (內埔) are under an orange heat alert, which warns of temperatures as high as 36°C for three consecutive days, the CWA said, citing southwest winds. The heat would also extend to Tainan’s Nansi (楠西) and Yujing (玉井) districts, as well as Pingtung’s Gaoshu (高樹), Yanpu (鹽埔) and Majia (瑪家) townships, it said, forecasting highs of up to 36°C in those areas
IN FULL SWING: Recall drives against lawmakers in Hualien, Taoyuan and Hsinchu have reached the second-stage threshold, the campaigners said Campaigners in a recall petition against Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Yen Kuan-heng (顏寬恒) in Taichung yesterday said their signature target is within sight, and that they need a big push to collect about 500 more signatures from locals to reach the second-stage threshold. Recall campaigns against KMT lawmakers Johnny Chiang (江啟臣), Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔) and Lo Ting-wei (羅廷瑋) are also close to the 10 percent threshold, and campaigners are mounting a final push this week. They need about 800 signatures against Chiang and about 2,000 against Yang. Campaigners seeking to recall Lo said they had reached the threshold figure over the
RSS