Former deputy minister of national defense Michael Tsai (蔡明憲) yesterday filed a defamation suit against Pei Wei (裴偉), editor-in-chief of the Chinese-language Next Magazine and two others people after the magazine accused Tsai of selling military promotions.
The magazine ran a story accusing Tsai of taking bribes in exchange for promoting 10 lieutenant generals and major generals last year.
key player
The magazine singled him out as the key player in a recent string of corruption allegations involving the ministry.
Prosecutors have listed Tsai and several senior military officials accused of buying their positions as suspects in the case.
Tsai said he had been wrongly accused and denied selling military positions.
FALSE
“The Next Magazine report is completely false,” he said. “When I was in office, I had never heard of any rumors of selling or buying positions. I am in favor of cracking down on or investigating alleged corruption.”
He said all the officers he promoted had been approved by the personnel department and that all personnel changes had been agreed upon by the former or current president.
Prosecutors earlier this month indicted former lieutenant general Yuan Hsiao-lung (袁肖龍) and 11 businessmen on charges of bribery and blackmail in a scandal in which several high-ranking officers were accused of securing promotions by offering bribes.SCANDAL
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) have both denied any involvement in the alleged cash-for-promotions scandal.
Next Magazine is well-known for its aggressive reporters and bold reporting style, which has embroiled it in a number of controversies.
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by
RSS