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
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation last night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by media. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan. In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20. The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon. The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistle-blower, which purportedly showed the
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or