Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
However, Wang confirmed that Chen did ask him twice not to serve as the campaign manager for Chen's campaign rival in the 2004 presidential election and mentioned his alleged involvement in some scandals but in another context.
Wang, who left for Japan on Wednesday, responded to the media inquiry in a telephone interview yesterday.
The China Times published a story on Wednesday, alleging that the president had attempted to intimidate Wang.
The Presidential Office held a press conference on the same day and threatened legal action if the paper did not retract its claim and apologize the following day.
Ignoring the warning, however, the Chinese newspaper yesterday followed up with more coverage on its claim that the president had tried to blackmail Wang.
The report prompted the Presidential Office to repeat its demand yesterday that the newspaper apologize for using "emotional" and "pompous" wording to make the claim.
"The China Times must explain why it used the word `intimidate' to describe the president's behavior in [Wednesday's] report," said Presidential Office Deputy Secretary-General Cho Jung-tai (
Apologize
"We'd like to see the China Times run a correction and apologize in [today's] edition, of the same size and on the same page as the article which ran on Wednesday," he said.
Cho said the Presidential Office's legal team will "take concrete and specific action" if the paper fails to do so, without elaborating exactly what the action would be.
"We think the story it ran [yesterday] revealed only part of the truth. That is, Speaker Wang verified that the president did not `intimidate' him, nor did he feel that he was `intimidated,'" the official said.
"We'd like to emphasize that the president did not pressure Speaker Wang in any way or use any term as a trade-off," he added.
Cho made the remarks in response to the China Times' nearly full-page coverage of Wang's interviews published in yesterday's edition.
Wang told the paper that Chen did ask him twice to decline the offer to serve as campaign manager in the run-up to the presidential election in 2004.
"I firmly rejected him and told him that I am loyal to my party," Wang was quoted as saying. "I am duty bound to shoulder the responsibility if my party needs me."
According to the China Times' Wednesday report, Chen showed Wang some "legal documents," which apparently outlined possible evidence of his wrongdoings, including a Zanadau Development Corp (
Walk out?
The report said that Chen showed 13 alleged cases against Wang, which made Wang so angry that he "punched the desk and walked out" on Chen.
Wang yesterday said that Chen did talk about the Zanadau Development Corp scandal at the time, but denied that the president threatened him by showing him some "legal documents" and that he "thumped the desk and then walked out."
"We talked about the Zanadau Development Corp case in relation to other topics," Wang said. He didn't elaborate what the "other topics" refer to.
As for the Presidential Office' s demand that the China Times has to apologize for the report, Wang said he would recommend the reporter who wrote the story to explain the matter to the Presidential Office and offer an apology.
"It's inappropriate for me to tell the newspaper what it should do, but I suggest the reporter apologize to the persons concerned," Wang said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (
Although Wang denied being threatened by Chen, Ma said "most of the people in political circles heard about the incident."
Judicial tool
Ma denounced the president for "making political intimidation" a "judicial tool" to pressure political rivals.
In response to Ma's remarks, Cho said he respected Ma's right to use "political language" to engage in "political maneuvering" although he did not agree with him.
"However, we have different standards for the media," Cho said. "While a politician can do that, the media must not dance to their tune and mislead the public."
Meanwhile, Premier Su Tseng-chang (
Su said both Wang and Chen are both seasoned politicians and that the president respects Wang.
The premier added that the president and Wang had often discussed various kinds of topics during their meetings.
"[Wang and Chen] know where the fine line is and they will not break the rules. What the press reported was not logical at all," Su said, when approached by the press for comment.
Additional reporting by Jimmy Chuang and Mo Yan-chih
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