The lawyer for former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Lien Chan (
But accepting an apology did not mean the facts could be twisted, said Lee Fu-tien (李復甸), who attended a court hearing on the case on Monday where presiding judge Wang Sheng-hui (王聖惠) advised the two sides to reach a settlement.
Lee said Lien and Soong were not just trying to cause trouble when they filed the slander suit against the president.
"But they are by no means men without principles," Lee said.
While Lien and Soong would be willing to reach a settlement with Chen, some basic facts must not be blurred, such as the fact the president had publicly alleged that a sort of "coup d'etat" or "soft coup d'etat" had been attempted by Lien and Soong.
If Chen expressed "some form of apology" for having made those allegations -- for example, by saying that he had made them hastily -- Lee said he might recommend his clients accept a settlement.
If Chen refused to address the issue and continued to claim he was not referring to Lien and Soong in his remarks, then his clients would not be interested in accepting the judge's advice to settle, Lee said.
He said there were numerous ways to express an apology, such as through the media.
The donation of offshore patrol vessel Kinmen to the Philippines includes provisions that protect Taiwanese fishers and facilitate security cooperation across the First Island Chain, officials said yesterday. The comment was made during the Cabinet’s comprehensive administrative report at the legislature after Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hsu Yu-chen (許宇甄) expressed concerns about the decision to give a ship to a country whose coast guard had in 2013 fired on a Taiwanese trawler and killed its captain without provocation. The Cabinet should lay out the safeguards that have been established to prevent the Philippine government from using the Kinmen to harass, expel
GROWING TIES: The CGA is planning a goodwill mission to the Philippines, in what would be the first time since 1975 a Taiwanese paramilitary vessel has visited the country The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) plans to significantly expand its participation in international security cooperative frameworks and its operational capabilities, a budget proposal for next year showed. The budget indicates a transformation of the CGA from a maritime law enforcement arm into a national defense and intelligence gathering entity capable of tackling larger regional security matters. The proposal showed that personnel from the coast guard’s Intelligence Division and Special Action Support Center are to participate in high-level national security talks with the US. As the CGA has dealt with China’s rising “gray zone” threats around Taiwan, it has become a valuable asset to
‘FRIENDSHIP FLEET’: A CGA official is scheduled to meet with the president of the Pacific nation, while one of the ships is to host a banquet and National Day event Two Coast Guard Administration (CGA) patrol vessels have docked at Malakal Harbor in Palau as part of an expedition exercise and diplomatic visit, during which a senior official is expected to meet with Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr, the agency said yesterday. The two vessels, the 4,000-tonne-class Chiayi and the 1,000-tonne-class Penghu, set sail for Palau from Taiwan last week and arrived on Tuesday at Malakal Harbor, the CGA’s Fleet Branch said in a statement. The journey marks the second time the CGA has dispatched a “friendship fleet” to another country, after it sent its first-ever goodwill fleet, comprising the Hualien and
A patrol vessel donated by the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) to the Philippines was commissioned into the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on Friday, a Philippine non-governmental organization said. The CGA on Sept. 16 confirmed media reports that Taiwan had donated a retired 500-tonne patrol vessel to the Philippines. The Manila-based We Protect Our Seas (WPS) foundation, which served as an intermediary in the transfer, said that the vessel was formerly the CGA’s 500-tonne petrol vessel Kinmen (CG123). The WPS, in a statement issued on Friday, said the vessel, renamed as the BRP Sarangani, had been commissioned into the PCG the
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