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 military has spotted two Chinese warships operating in waters near Penghu County in the Taiwan Strait and sent its own naval and air forces to monitor the vessels, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. Beijing sends warships and warplanes into the waters and skies around Taiwan on an almost daily basis, drawing condemnation from Taipei. While the ministry offers daily updates on the locations of Chinese military aircraft, it only rarely gives details of where Chinese warships are operating, generally only when it detects aircraft carriers, as happened last week. A Chinese destroyer and a frigate entered waters to the southwest
The eastern extension of the Taipei MRT Red Line could begin operations as early as late June, the Taipei Department of Rapid Transit Systems said yesterday. Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said it is considering offering one month of free rides on the new section to mark its opening. Construction progress on the 1.4km extension, which is to run from the current terminal Xiangshan Station to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, was 90.6 percent complete by the end of last month, the department said in a report to the Taipei City Council's Transportation Committee. While construction began in October 2016 with an
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Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comment last year on Tokyo’s potential reaction to a Taiwan-China conflict has forced Beijing to rewrite its invasion plans, a retired Japanese general said. Takaichi told the Diet on Nov. 7 last year that a Chinese naval blockade or military attack on Taiwan could constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan, potentially allowing Tokyo to exercise its right to collective self-defense. Former Japan Ground Self-Defense Force general Kiyofumi Ogawa said in a recent speech that the remark has been interpreted as meaning Japan could intervene in the early stages of a Taiwan Strait conflict, undermining China’s previous assumptions
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