The campaign aimed at ousting President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday accused the president and a local TV station of slander and distorting the nature of its movement, saying that it will file lawsuits against them.
"The president's remarks and the TV station's coverage have caused the public to misunderstand our movement ? We plan to file lawsuits against them," John Wei (魏千峰), an attorney allied with the camp told a press conference yesterday.
According to Wei, the president told Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) members during a trip to Ilan County yesterday that the protest against him "has been supported by other forces," implying that China was backing the movement.
PHOTO: KUO YEN-HUI, TAIPEI TIMES
Formosa TV Station, meanwhile, repeatedly broadcast a news item that claimed the camp's idea for protesters to wear red clothes and title of its plan to "besiege" the Presidential Office on Double Ten Day on Oct. 10 -- entitled "Tian Xia Wei Gong (天下圍攻)" -- were inspired by a Chinese song and suggested that the camp was associated with the Chinese Communist Party, Wei said.
The title of the planned siege and terms such as "red guards" and "red flags" appeared in the lyrics of a Chinese song titled Flowers Blossoming Everywhere in August.
The station carried biased news about the protest's intentions. We have already prepared the news clips as evidence and we ask the station to stop broadcasting it immediately," he added.
Chang Fu-chung (張富忠), a spokesman for the camp, also condemned the station and the pan-green camp for "smearing the campaign with the color red."
The director of the DPP's Ilan chapter, Soong Hsiu-shu (宋岫書), however, told the Taipei Times yesterday in a phone interview that the president did not make comments implying that China was the mastermind behind the campaign.
That opinion was expressed by Ilan residents and local opinion leaders when they met with the president in a closed-door meeting yesterday. Chen did not respond, Soong said.
Soong said that Chen told the Ilan meeting that he believed the public would gradually see clearly the true nature of the campaign.
When asked by TV reporters whether Chen mentioned China or implicated that China was behind the anti-Chen campaign at the meeting, Soong said that he repeatedly told the reporters that the president did not, but the TV stations did not show that part.
The Presidential Office issued a statement late yesterday afternoon denying that Chen said "other forces are backing" the anti-Chen demonstration.
The statement said that all remarks about the meeting were made by Soong and that Chen had not linked the campaign to China.
In response, FTV said their coverage didn't question whether the anti-Chen campaign had any connection to the "Red Army."
The TV network said it asked academic Lin Bao-hua (林寶華) and anti-Chen campaign spokesman Jerry Fan (范可欽) whether the inspiration for the campaign had come from classic Chinese songs.
Lin pointed out to FTV that he discovered that the campaign slogans used by the anti-Chen camp were taken from the songs titled Flowers Blossoming Everywhere in August (遍地開花) and All Under Heaven are Equal (天下為公), both Chinese classics.
Fan told FTV that the connection was just a coincidence, adding that the idea for the slogans came from anti-Chen campaign leader Shi Ming-teh (施明德).
As anti-Chen protesters returned to Ketagalan Boulevard yesterday, the organizers pledged to launch its Double Ten National Day "siege," despite the Taipei City Government's decision to reject the camp's proposal to hold protests in front of the Presidential Office.
Wang Li-ping (王麗萍), a spokeswoman for the Shih camp, said it didn't need an application for the "siege" anyway.
"It's unnecessary to get approval for the siege. Just like participants of the Double Ten day ceremony don't need to file an application to attend," she said.
Additional reporting by Ko Shu-ling
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
GLOBAL: Although Matsu has limited capacity for large numbers of domestic tourists, it would be a great high-end destination for international travelers, an official said Lienchiang County’s (Matsu) unique landscape and Cold War history give it great potential to be marketed as a destination for international travelers, Tourism Administration Director General Chen Yu-hsiu (陳玉秀) said at the weekend. Tourism officials traveled to the outlying island for the Matsu Biennial, an art festival that started on Friday to celebrate Matsu’s culture, history and landscape. Travelers to Matsu, which lies about 190km northwest of Taipei, must fly or take the state-run New Taima passenger ship. However, flights are often canceled during fog season from April to June. Chen spoke about her vision to promote Matsu as a tourist attraction in
PAWSITIVE IMPACT: A shop owner said that while he adopted cats to take care of rodents, they have also attracted younger visitors who also buy his dried goods In Taipei’s Dadaocheng (大稻埕), cats lounging in shops along Dihua Street do more than nap amid the scent of dried seafood. Many have become beloved fixtures who double as photography models, attracting visitors and helping boost sales in one of the capital’s most historic quarters. A recent photo contest featuring more than a dozen shop cats drew more than 2,200 submissions, turning everyday cat-spotting into a friendly competition that attracted amateur and professional photographers. “It’s rare to see cats standing, so when it suddenly did, it felt like a lucky cat,” said Sabrina Hsu (徐淳蔚), who won the NT$10,000 top prize in
RSS