Independent Legislator Sisy Chen (
She also said that all of the allegations she made on the eve of the election concerning the assassination attempt on President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) were based on information provided by the alliance's campaign headquarters, in an apparent challenge to the veracity of comments made by Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou on March 19.
Her remarks came in the midst of a storm of criticism from a number of pan-blue legislators who, believing that her baseless allegations at the March 19 press conference had provoked resentment in undecided voters and may have drawn support to President Chen Shui-bian, and that she should be responsible for the defeat of the alliance in the March 20 presidential election.
On Monday, KMT Spokesman Alex Tsai (
Defending herself, Sisy Chen placed a phone call to a call-in TV talk show late Monday night.
The topic of the call-in program then was whether Sisy Chen should be responsible for the pan-blue camp's defeat in the election.
Sisy Chen, a former spokeswoman for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) who now supports the pan-blue camp and has been acting as its "advisor," held a press conference at the KMT-PFP alliance's campaign headquarters at midnight on March 19, saying that the hospital had faked the medical records of Chen Shui-bian and Lu, who were shot and wounded in an assassination attempt earlier that afternoon.
At the press conference -- with Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) also present in his capacity as the national chief of the alliance's campaign -- Sisy Chen insinuated that the shooting was "just a trick" to win sympathy and claimed to have information from "an anonymous nurse" that the national security system was involved in the conspiracy. She has not at any time produced evidence to back her claims.
"Statements I made during the March 19 press conference relevant to the election-eve shooting [of Chen Shui-bian and Lu] were not my personal opinion," Sisy Chen said on Monday, contradicting a statement made on March 19 by Ma.
At the press conference, Ma made a point of saying that everything Sisy Chen said during the conference was her own opinion. At that time she did not contest his assertion, and told reporters that Ma included the disclaimer with her acquiesence.
A number of pan-blue legislators believe that her "wild allegations" at the March 19 press conference had turned off undecided voters and led them to support Chen Shui-bian.
"I can tell everyone that all the information was provided by the [KMT-PFP] alliance's national campaign headquarters," she said, adding that KMT Chairman Lien Chan (
In response to Sisy Chen's remarks, Ma yesterday said that although he was present at the press conference, he knew only part of what she was going to say at the press conference beforehand.
Although not a member of the alliance, the sharp-tongued Sisy Chen, one of the president's most obdurate critics, has been a great boost to the pan-blue camp. While her opinions and advice had been valued by the alliance's leaders, she also drew ire from some members of the pan-blue camp, who accused her of meddling.
A drunk woman was sexually assaulted inside a crowded concourse of Taipei Railway Station on Thursday last week before a foreign tourist notified police, leading to calls for better education on bystander intervention and review of security infrastructure. The man, surnamed Chiu (邱), was taken into custody on charges of sexual assault, taking advantage of the woman’s condition and public indecency. Police discovered that Chiu was a fugitive with prior convictions for vehicle theft. He has been taken into custody and is to complete his unserved six-month sentence, police said. On Thursday last week, Chiu was seen wearing a white
EVA Airways, one of the leading international carriers in Taiwan, yesterday said that it was investigating reports that a cabin crew manager had ignored the condition of a sick flight attendant, who died on Saturday. The airline made the statement in response to a post circulating on social media that said that the flight attendant on an outbound flight was feeling sick and notified the cabin crew manager. Although the flight attendant grew increasingly ill on the return flight, the manager did not contact Medlink — a system that connects the aircraft to doctors on the ground for treatment advice during medical
The Taoyuan Flight Attendants’ Union yesterday vowed to protest at the EVA Air Marathon on Sunday next week should EVA Airway Corp’s management continue to ignore the union’s petition to change rules on employees’ leave of absence system, after a flight attendant reportedly died after working on a long-haul flight while ill. The case has generated public discussion over whether taking personal or sick leave should affect a worker’s performance review. Several union members yesterday protested at the Legislative Yuan, holding white flowers and placards, while shouting: “Life is priceless; requesting leave is not a crime.” “The union is scheduled to meet with
‘UNITED FRONT’ RHETORIC: China’s TAO also plans to hold weekly, instead of biweekly, news conferences because it wants to control the cross-strait discourse, an expert said China’s plan to expand its single-entry visa-on-arrival service to Taiwanese would be of limited interest to Taiwanese and is a feeble attempt by Chinese administrators to demonstrate that they are doing something, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) spokesman Chen Binhua (陳斌華) said the program aims to facilitate travel to China for Taiwanese compatriots, regardless of whether they are arriving via direct flights or are entering mainland China through Hong Kong, Macau or other countries, and they would be able to apply for a single-entry visa-on-arrival at all eligible entry points in China. The policy aims
RSS