Despite being well-known for her sharp tongue, first daughter Chen Hsing-yu's (
The Taiwan High Court on Tuesday rejected the appeal of Chen's husband, Chao Chien-ming (
Chao Chien-ming's sentence was lengthened by 12 months to seven years' imprisonment. Chao Yu-chu received a 14-month extension to his sentence, meaning he must now serve nine years and six months.
The following day, Chen, fuming with anger, told reporters camping outside her workplace that her father-in-law should "go kill himself" if he does not have the guts to take responsibility for what he did.
If her father-in-law continues to be a coward, she said, then "he is not a man."
Chen's comments drew mixed responses from the public. Some criticized her for setting a bad example by publicly admonishing her father-in-law. Others said her fury was excusable because she was a victim revealing her suffering. Still others appealed to the media to show sympathy for the mother of three, who works three jobs to support her family.
The 31-year-old Chen is a dentist specializing in orthodontics. She was married to Chao Chien-ming, an orthopedist, in 2001, a year after graduating from National Yang Ming University.
She went on to receive a master's degree from National Taiwan University in 2005.
Chen is known for her frustration at being hounded by reporters. Upset by paparazzi snapping pictures of her at her college graduation, Chen hit one of them with her mortarboard.
She has demonstrated on numerous occasions that she is a woman who does not mince words.
Angered by an allegation that she was pregnant at the time of her wedding, she confronted reporters camping outside her workplace, telling them to "use your brain and think!" and pointing out that the allegations did not add up.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lan Mei-ching (藍美津) said that Chen takes after her mother, first lady Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍), whom Lan described as "direct, passionate and optimistic."
"They are both candid individuals who know their own mind," Lan said.
She said that Chen was brought up in a family where she could express her opinions freely and challenge authority.
Lan has developed a close relationship with the first family since her husband and President Chen Shui-bian (
Chen Shui-bian was sent to jail not long after Wu was discharged from hospital after an assassination attempt. Wu was paralyzed from the waist down after she was run over by a truck in what is widely believed to have been a politically motivated act. That same year, she ran in the legislative election and won.
Growing up in a political family has made Chen Hsing-yu hate politics, said DPP Legislator Yeh Yi-chin (
Yeh recollected an incident that occurred when Chen Hsing-yu was in the second grade.
She said Chen Hsing-yu came home from school distressed one day, rushing to her room. Wu came in to find out what had happened and found her daughter crying. The seven-year-old told her mother that one of her best friends at school had told her that she did not want to be her friend anymore because her father was a bad person and in jail.
As Wu will see her husband in jail and her children suffer, Yeh said it was understandable for Chen Hsing-yu to make such remarks.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard