Former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator Shen Fu-hsiung (
The controversy nearly derailed Chen Shui-bian's campaign to be re-elected president against competition from then Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Lien Chan (連戰).
Days before the 2004 poll, Chen Yu-hao accused Chen Shui-bian of accepting political donations six times and said that, accompanied by Shen, he had met first lady Wu Shu-jen (
His claim raised questions about Chen Shui-bian's integrity and caused Chen's support rating in polls to fall.
At that time, Shen would not answer directly when asked about Chen Yu-hao's claims and the alleged meeting with Wu.
Shen yesterday confirmed he had taken Chen Yu-hao to visit Wu and added that the president's son-in-law's recent alleged involvement in insider trading simply "mimicked" the behavior of his mother-in-law Wu, who often made phone calls to meddle in governmental issues.
Shen yesterday also ridiculed Chen Shui-bian, saying he had become a "lame duck" president.
But Chao's case had not yet burned the president and the first lady, he said.
"If the scandal is found to be related to the president and his wife, then the president would become a roast duck," he added.
Shen said the most urgent thing for Chen Shui-bian now was to sit down and talk with Wu and Presidential Office Deputy Secretary-General Ma Yung-cheng (
"If the president can correct his mistakes, I believe he will still be able to leave office with a good reputation," Shen said, adding that he regretted he had not made things clear in 2004.
If he had done so, he said, the case involving Chao might not have occurred.
"I was worried that if I told the whole story about the political donation, the DPP would place all the responsibility for the president's failure to be re-elected on me," Shen said.
DPP Legislator Lin Cho-shui (
"If the president had dealt with those controversies well, the Chao case would not have happened," Lin said.
But DPP Legislator Gao Jyh-peng (
In response to Shen's claim, Presidential Office Spokesman David Lee (李南陽) said yesterday the office had made a thorough explanation in response to Chen Yu-hao's accusations in 2004 and would not comment on the matter now.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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