Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hung Hsiu-chu (
Social critic Cheng Tsun-chi (
Taipei District Prosecutors' Office Spokesman Lin Jinn-tsun (林錦村) yesterday said that Cheng and Hung, during the course of a television talk show hosted by Broadcasting Corporation of China (BCC) chairman Jaw Shao-kong (趙少康) and broadcast last September, defamed Yu by calling him a dog.
On the TV talk show Cheng said "You [Yu] are ungrateful. I call you a dog because I want [President] Chen Shui-bian (
Hung then said that Yu was the most loyal dog she had ever seen.
Hung responded to yesterday's indictment by saying that she respected the prosecutors' decision.
A number of legislators across party lines and TV talk show political commentators have faced slander lawsuits recently for their acrimonious comments on a number of TV talk shows.
Former Chinese Unity Promotion Party chairman Lin Cheng-chieh (林正杰) -- a democracy activist-turned pro-unification commentator -- was sentenced to fifty days in jail last December by the Taipei District Court for slapping and kicking Contemporary Monthly magazine editor Chin Heng-wei (金恆煒) during a TV debate last August on whether the president should resign over corruption allegations.
On Thursday, Taipei judges also fined President Chen Shui-bian (
The president accused Soong of secretly meeting with Chinese officials in the US, but provided no evidence to support the claim.
Judges fined Chen NT$3 million (US$90,900), and required him to print advertisements apoligizing to Soong in three major Chinese-language dailies. Soong had originally asked for NT$50 million in compensation.
Slander and libel lawsuits are a regular feature of the nation's politics.
Most major politicians have at one time been involved in such suits, either as the victim or the defendant.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
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