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Court to call more witnesses in Soong-Chen lawsuit

Bureau of Investigation (BOI) director Yeh Sheng-mao (葉盛茂) and media figure Chang You-hua (張友驊) will be summoned to appear in court on July 20 to testify in a slander suit filed by opposition People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) against President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), according to the Taipei District Court.

Soong is suing the president for alleging that he met with a senior Chinese official in the US early last year, an allegation that Soong claims is groundless but Chen claims is "based on something."

Lin Chih-hao (林志豪), the legal counsel for the president, said Chen based his allegations on "intelligence" gathered by national security authorities and the Bureau of Investigation, as well as statements made by Chang and reports carried in the Chinese-language United Daily News.

The Taipei District Court summoned a United Daily News reporter last Thursday for questioning about the alleged secret meeting between Soong and Chen Yunlin (陳雲林), director of China's Taiwan Affairs Office.

The reporter said at the hearing that his source in national security circles told him that Soong met with Chen Yunlin, but refused to identify his source.

Responding to the reporter's testimony, Soong's lawyer, Lee Fu-tien (李復甸), said Soong was in Las Vegas on Jan. 3-9 last year, while Chen Yunlin made a transit stop in San Francisco on Jan. 7 on his way back to China after a US visit.

When Soong met with a senior US official on Jan. 14, Chen Yunlin had long since left the US, Lee said, adding that even if the US official had indeed arranged for a Soong-Chen meeting as claimed by the United Daily News reporter, it could not have taken place as Chen had left for home by that time.

The presiding judge said a second hearing would be held on July 20, when Yeh and Chang would be subpoenaed.

Soong filed the slander suit last June, claiming that the allegations affected voter confidence in his integrity. Since Chen has never produced evidence proving that the meeting took place, Soong initially demanded that Chen run an apology in newspapers for one day and pay a symbolic NT$1 in damages.

Last October, Soong expanded his compensation demand, asking the president to run an apology in newspapers for three days and pay NT$50 million in damages.
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