Former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator Tuan Yi-kang (段宜康) said yesterday he would not apologize to former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Lien Chan's (連戰) daughter, Lien Hui-hsin (連惠心), despite a court decision ordering him to do so.
"I was questioning her father, not her," Tuan told a press conference yesterday. "I did not do anything wrong, so I do not understand why I should apologize."
TAX EVASION
The dispute stemmed from the slander lawsuit Lien Hui-hsin filed against Tuan in 2004 when Lien Chan was running for the presidency as the KMT candidate.
At the time, Tuan, in his capacity as DPP legislator, accused Lien Chan of evading taxes.
Tuan, referring to official documents containing Lien Hui-hsin's name, said he suspected that her bank account was being used as one of Lien Chan's dummy accounts for money laundering.
TRANSFER
Tuan said the documents showed that the Taipei City Tax Bureau suspected Lien Hui-hsin of tax fraud on Aug. 15, 1991.
He said that on July 30 Lien Hui-hsin relocated her household registration to Tamsui (淡水), Taipei County, meaning that responsibility for the case had to be shifted from the Taipei City Tax Bureau to the one in Taipei County.
OLD FRIEND
Tuan said that the then head of the Taiwan County Tax Department, Lin Suei-sheng (林燧生), was an old friend of the Liens and that Lien Hui-hsin's case was closed without any explanation.
After the case was closed, Lin was promoted to deputy treasurer of the Taiwan Province Government when Lien Chan was governor, Tuan said.
In addition to the slander suit, Lien Hui-hsin filed a compensation request from Tuan.
The court ruled that Tuan was innocent of slander, but a final verdict said that Tuan had to carry out Lien Hui-hsin's request that he print an apology in a major Chinese-language newspaper.
"This final verdict is neither convincing nor logical," Tuan said.
"It does not make sense for judges to believe that I did not slander her only to request that I apologize to her," he said.
Tuan said he was considering filing a constitutional interpretation request on the case.
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
RSS