Minister of National Defense Lee Jye (
Lee's comments came a day after he told at a legislative hearing that he had been approached by two pan-blue military personnel after the 2004 election, and that they had asked him to step aside as the then chief of general staff so that they could organize a coup against President Chen Shui-bian (
Lee refused to identify the two personnel to lawmakers yesterday.
On Monday, a second hearing began at the Taiwan High Court in a suit filed by former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) against President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), claiming that Chen defamed them by asserting that there had been an attempted "soft" coup d'etat following Lien and Soong's defeat in the 2004 presidential election.
At Monday's hearing, Chen's lawyer showed the judge classified documents that he claimed proved the coup attempt.
Lee yesterday told a defense committee meeting in the legislature that the classified document was his written testimony to the court, and that he would like to reveal the whole matter to the judges hearing the suit.
Angry lawmakers
Lee's recent remarks drew harsh criticism from pan-blue lawmakers.
"You are very stupid to get yourself drawn into the political storm," KMT Legislator Lin Yu-fang (
"Because you refused to name the generals who approached you and asked you to feign sickness and step aside, everyone keeps guessing, and that has hurt the reputations of innocent generals," Lin said.
Chen lost a first trial to Lien and Soong when the Taipei District Court ruled that Chen had not provided sufficient evidence to back up his allegations of a "soft coup" attempt.
Lee's testimony was new evidence introduced in the second trial.
The Chinese-language newspaper the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times' sister newspaper) first reported that the classified documents said an "incumbent military adviser to the Presidential Office" and a former chief of the general staff had talked to Lee Jye and asked him to step aside on March 24, 2004.
Mysterious duo
A number of legislators wanted to know yesterday whether the two personnel were former chief of the general staff Lo Pen-li (
But Lee repeatedly answered, "I cannot identify them."
Lo and Tsao have not commented on the "soft coup" allegations. DPP Legislator Lee Wen-chung (
Meanwhile, Presidential Office Deputy Secretary-General Cho Jung-tai (
"If Lee Jye had given evidence on the coup allegations [before], the president might have won the first trial. Why didn't Lee do that? Did the Presidential Office ask him to offer testimony after losing the first trial, in exchange for him [keeping] his position as minister?" Lee Ching-hua asked Cho during a committee meeting yesterday.
Cho rejected the remarks, saying they made false inferences and were unfair to Lee Jye.
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiu-chuan
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
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
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck Chiayi County at 4:37pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 36.3km southeast of Chiayi County Hall at a depth of 10.4km, CWA data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Chiayi County, Tainan and Kaohsiung on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Pingtung, Taitung, Hualien, Changhua, Nantou and Penghu counties, the data
The Supreme Court today rejected an appeal filed by former Air Force officer Shih Chun-cheng (史濬程), convicted of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) espionage, finalizing his sentence at two years and two months for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法). His other ruling, a ten-month sentence for an additional contravention, was meanwhile overturned and sent to the Taichung branch of the High Court for retrial, the Supreme Court said today. Prosecutors have been notified as Shih is considered a flight risk. Shih was recruited by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) intelligence officials after his retirement in 2008 and appointed as a supervisor
RSS