Former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) yesterday issued an ultimatum to The Journalist (新新聞), demanding that the news weekly print an apology in four Chinese-language newspapers within five days for wrongfully accusing her of spreading rumors about an alleged extra-marital affair between then president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and his interpreter.
Lu said she has been waiting for The Journalist to apologize since the Supreme Court ruled in her favor in April 2004.
"I don't want to wait any longer," she told a press conference. "Appeasement only breeds villains. I am left with no choice but to respect the law."
The court ordered The Journalist to clarify and admit that Lu did not call then editor-in-chief Yang Chao (楊照) to spread a rumor that Chen was having an affair with his then interpreter Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴). The court ordered Yang to publish a clarification on the front pages of Taiwan＊s major newspapers as well as broadcast it on the radio and TV for three days.
The dispute between The Journalist and Lu erupted in November 2000. Lu filed a civil suit on Dec. 21, 2000, demanding a formal apology from the magazine, saying the story had injured her reputation. The weekly has refused to offer an apology as per the court's orders. It requested a constitutional interpretation over Civil Code Article 195, which states that "one whose reputation is violated can request for appropriate punishment that's equivalent to reputation recovery."
The Council of Grand Justices last Friday ruled the article was not unconstitutional. Lu said she did not want any monetary compensation from the magazine. She declined to comment on whether she would accept a private apology from the magazine.
When asked what would be the next step if the magazine still ignored Lu's request, Lu's legal adviser Hong Guey-san said they would request an injunction so the court would ask the magazine to comply within a certain period of time. If the magazine still defied the court order, they would publish the apology on the magazine's behalf and seek payment from the weekly.
Chou Tien-rey (周天瑞), president of The Journalist, yesterday declined to comment.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
A preclearance service to facilitate entry for people traveling to select airports in Japan would be available from Thursday next week to Feb. 25 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC) said on Tuesday. The service was first made available to Taiwanese travelers throughout the winter vacation of 2024 and during the Lunar New Year holiday. In addition to flights to the Japanese cities of Hakodate, Asahikawa, Akita, Sendai, Niigata, Okayama, Takamatsu, Kumamoto and Kagoshima, the service would be available to travelers to Kobe and Oita. The service can be accessed by passengers of 15 flight routes operated by
GIVE AND TAKE: Blood demand continues to rise each year, while fewer young donors are available due to the nation’s falling birthrate, a doctor said Blood donors can redeem points earned from donations to obtain limited edition Formosan black bear travel mugs, the Kaohsiung Blood Center said yesterday, as it announced a goal of stocking 20,000 units of blood prior to the Lunar New Year. The last month of the lunar year is National Blood Donation Month, when local centers seek to stockpile blood for use during the Lunar New Year holiday. The blood demand in southern Taiwan — including Tainan and Kaohsiung, as well as Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Taitung counties — is about 2,000 units per day, the center said. The donation campaign aims to boost
ENHANCING EFFICIENCY: The apron can accommodate 16 airplanes overnight at Taoyuan airport while work on the third runway continues, the transport minister said A new temporary overnight parking apron at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport is to start operating on Friday next week to boost operational efficiency while the third runway is being constructed, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The apron — one of the crucial projects in the construction of the third runway — can accommodate 16 aircraft overnight at the nation’s largest international airport, Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) told reporters while inspecting the new facility yesterday morning. Aside from providing the airport operator with greater flexibility in aircraft parking during the third runway construction,
American climber Alex Honnold is to attempt a free climb of Taipei 101 today at 9am, with traffic closures around the skyscraper. To accommodate the climb attempt and filming, the Taipei Department of Transportation said traffic controls would be enforced around the Taipei 101 area. If weather conditions delay the climb, the restrictions would be pushed back to tomorrow. Traffic controls would be in place today from 7am to 11am around the Taipei 101 area, the department said. Songzhi Road would be fully closed in both directions between Songlian Road and Xinyi Road Sec 5, it said, adding that bidirectional traffic controls would
RSS