Chen Yue-ching (陳月卿), wife of National Security Council Secretary-General Su Chi (蘇起), yesterday filed a defamation lawsuit against a local weekly magazine for reporting that she gained NT$6.6 billion (US$200 million) from Chinese officials who purchased 200,000 food processors that she is promoting.
Chen rang the bell in front of the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office to announce that she was pressing charges against the Chinese-language China Times Weekly, which reported that during her trip to Beijing in April, she helped to promote a food processor unit for which her brother has the exclusive distribution rights.
She said the magazine’s report of lucrative sales of up to NT$6.6 billion to Chinese officials as part of a program to introduce home appliances to rural Chinese areas was “completely untrue.”
“I don’t know why [the magazine] is using false reports to damage our reputation,” she said.
Chen, who has worked in media for 28 years, criticized the magazine for seriously violating journalistic integrity by fabricating such stories.
She is demanding compensation of NT$10 million for damage to her reputation.
Chen’s visit to Beijing to promote a book she has written caused an uproar at the time, drawing criticism from lawmakers who said it was inappropriate for Su to hold the office of secretary-general of the National Security Council while his wife traveled to China for commercial purposes.
Earlier this month, another one of Su’s relatives stirred up controversy when news broke that Su’s younger brother, National Chengchi University law professor Su Yeong-chin (蘇永欽), currently serves as a visiting professor at Zhejiang University in China.
The opposition at the time criticized the government for not restricting family members of high-ranking officials from visiting or working in China.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
RSS