The Taipei District Court yesterday summoned former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) for a slander suit brought against him, making him the first former president subpoenaed as a defendant in a criminal case.
Chen did not appear in court, citing a pre-arranged engagement. His lawyer did not specify what the event was. The court said it would bring him to court for questioning if he did it again without cause.
Retired vice admiral Lei Hsueh-ming (雷學明), retired rear admiral Wang Chin-sheng (王琴生) and three others filed a defamation suit against Chen, DPP Legislator William Lai (賴清德) and former DPP legislator Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) for allegedly claiming that Lei and the others accepted kickbacks in connection with the purchase of frigates.
Hsu was the only defendant to show up yesterday. Chen’s lawyer said that Chen’s secretary told him that the summons was at short notice and that he could not make it because he had other arrangements.
The judge, however, rebuffed this, saying that Chen received the summons on May 23 and he had not clearly specified the reason for his absence. The judge asked Chen’s lawyer to tell Chen that the court has the right to bring him in for questioning if he ignores a subpoena without cause.
Chen’s office yesterday expressed regret over the litigation, saying that Chen simply questioned the flow of the kickbacks and never alleged Lei had taken cash.
The statement said Chen, in an interview with ETTV in 2005, said that he began investigating the case when he was a legislator and was glad to be re-elected so he could continue probing the deal, which he claimed involved NT$15 billion (US$500 million) in kickbacks.
Chen said the government’s original plan in 1988 was to purchase South Korean-made frigates. But on a trip to France in May 1989, former premier Hau Pei-tsun (郝柏村) asked the navy to suspend the plan, and the government decided in 1990 to purchase the French-made ships.
Andrew Wang (汪傳浦), the key suspect in the kickback scandal, fled the country following the murder of naval captain Yin Ching-feng (尹清楓) in 1993. Yin is believed to have been about to blow the whistle on colleagues taking kickbacks. Wang has been charged in absentia with murder, corruption, money laundering and fraud.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
RSS