The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday filed a lawsuit against Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) for his comments accusing DPP presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) of corruption.
The party said it filed the lawsuit because Wu, who is on leave to concentrate on his campaign as President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) running mate, had violated the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act (總統副總統選舉罷免法) by spreading a rumor or false statement for the purpose of getting a candidate elected or impeding a candidate’s election chances.
At a campaign rally on Friday, Wu accused Tsai of corruption in the so-called “Yu Chang case” during her time as vice premier in 2007, when she approved separate government investments of NT$875 million (US$28.8 million) and US$20 million — about NT$1.4 billion in total — for the bio-technology start-up before leaving office and serving as Yu Chang’s chairperson.
Photo: CNA
The National Development Fund’s (NDF) investment in Yu Chang was a lot less than NT$1.4 billion and Wu’s comments were an “obvious smear,” DPP spokesman Chuang Ruei-hsiung (莊瑞雄) said.
The NDF deposited its initial investment of NT$264 million in Yu Chang,now known as TaiMed Biologics Co, and approved the second phase investment of NT$875 million in March 2008, but the second deposit never went through after the change in government in May 2008, he said.
“No matter how you calculate it, the sum would not be NT$1.4 billion,” Chuang said.
Photo: Lin Chun-hung, Taipei Times
Wu failed to get the time right either because the NT$875 million investment was approved by the NDF in March 2008, 10 months after Tsai left office in May 2007, DPP lawyer Huang Di-ying (黃帝穎) said.
Huang said it was strange that Wu’s comments came after his wife, Tsai Ling-yi (蔡令怡), had apologized for citing incorrect information at a KMT rally on Dec. 11 to accuse Tsai Ing-wen of transferring NT$1.1 billion in public funds to the accounts of her family’s businesses.
Including Wu, the DPP has now filed lawsuits against eight KMT politicians or political analysts over the Yu Chang case since Wednesday as the party insisted Tsai was not involved in any wrongdoing.
The DPP sued Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) Minister Christina Liu (劉憶如) over allegedly forging documents that were used to smear Tsai and KMT legislators Chiu Yi (邱毅), Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑), Lin Yi-shih (林益世) and Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱), as well as political commentator Clara Chou (周玉蔻), for spreading rumors.
At a separate setting yesterday, DPP legislative candidate Juan Chao-hsiung (阮昭雄) filed a lawsuit with the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office against Hon Hai chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘), alleging recent remarks by Gou may have violated election laws.
Juan, who represents the party in Taipei’s Wenshan District (文山), said Gou had said he supported Ma’s election and added that he planned to hire charter flights to return his staff from China to vote.
Juan said such measures could constitute vote buying.
Gou also joined a campaign rally for independent legislative candidate Lin Pin-kuan (林炳坤) on Penghu and told Lin that if he was elected, he would invest in a film company to make a movie in Penghu and that he would also provide funds so National Penghu University of Science and Technology could send people to attend the world energy investment competition, Juan said.
Those remarks also might have broken vote-buying regulations, Juan said.
Additional reporting by Rich Chang
“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
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
The National Museum of Taiwan Literature is next month to hold an exhibition in Osaka, Japan, showcasing the rich and unique history of Taiwanese folklore and literature. The exhibition, which is to run from Aug. 10 to Aug. 20 at the city’s Central Public Hall, is part of the “We Taiwan” at Expo 2025 series, highlighting Taiwan’s cultural ties with the international community, National Museum of Taiwan Literature director Chen Ying-fang (陳瑩芳) said. Folklore and literature, among Taiwan’s richest cultural heritages, naturally deserve a central place in the global dialogue, Chen said. Taiwan’s folklore would be immediately apparent at the entrance of the
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