Independent Taipei mayoral candidate Neil Peng (馮光遠) began a 20-day jail term yesterday, after he was sentenced for calling former Council for Cultural Affairs (CCA) minister Emile Sheng (盛治仁) “a scum public servant” and, in protest, declined to pay a fine.
Escorted by a crowd of supporters and friends and with a smile on his face, the screenwriter and author reported to an annex office of the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office before he was handcuffed and sent to a correctional facility to serve his time.
“Since 1989, I have been a political commentator, and I had never been sued for my critiques of officials until 2008, when President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and National Security Council Secretary-General King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) took office,” Peng told reporters before entering the prosecutors’ office.
Photo courtesy of Neil Peng’s campaign office
“Obviously, these people are trying to silence voices of opposition through legal maneuvers, but I want to tell them that Taiwan’s democracy will not be so easily repressed,” he added.
Peng was sued by Sheng in 2012 over an article criticizing the then-Council for Cultural Affairs minister as a “scum public servant” after Sheng refused to publicize detailed budget information for a government-sponsored musical performance that cost NT$230 million (US$7.55 million at current exchange rates) of the taxpayers’ money in just two nights.
Although Peng could have avoided serving jail time by paying a fine, he declined to do so, saying that he would rather be behind bars than pay the government, as he did not think he had done anything wrong.
He said that he has the right to describe an official as “scum” given Sheng’s actions and added that it is ridiculous that a citizen should be jailed for criticizing an official who had “performed poorly.”
“Compared to Cheng Nan-jung (鄭南榕), who self-immolated [in 1989] for the freedom of speech, the 20-day prison time is really nothing,” he said.
Yen Ming-wei (顏銘緯), a political activist and friend of Peng who gained notoriety after throwing a book at Ma in protest last week, gave six books — including one entitled Wish You Were Here — to Peng to read while detained.
“I am sure I will have a lot of time to read in prison,” Peng said while looking at the books. “However, I would like to tell Sheng: ‘I wish you were here.’”
China has reserved offshore airspace in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported yesterday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. These alerts, known as Notice to Air Missions (Notams), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert is
More than 6,000 Taiwanese students have participated in exchange programs in China over the past two years, despite the Mainland Affairs Council’s (MAC) “orange light” travel advisory, government records showed. The MAC’s publicly available registry showed that Taiwanese college and university students who went on exchange programs across the Strait numbered 3,592 and 2,966 people respectively. The National Immigration Agency data revealed that 2,296 and 2,551 Chinese students visited Taiwan for study in the same two years. A review of the Web sites of publicly-run universities and colleges showed that Taiwanese higher education institutions continued to recruit students for Chinese educational programs without
A bipartisan group of US senators has introduced a bill to enhance cooperation with Taiwan on drone development and to reduce reliance on supply chains linked to China. The proposed Blue Skies for Taiwan Act of 2026 was introduced by Republican US senators Ted Cruz and John Curtis, and Democratic US senators Jeff Merkley and Andy Kim. The legislation seeks to ease constraints on Taiwan-US cooperation in uncrewed aerial systems (UAS), including dependence on China-sourced components, limited access to capital and regulatory barriers under US export controls, a news release issued by Cruz on Wednesday said. The bill would establish a "Blue UAS
The Republic of China Army Command yesterday relieved Kinmen Defense Battalion commander after authorities indicted the officer on charges connected to using methamphetamine. The Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Wednesday detained Colonel He (何) after the Coast Guard linked him to drug shipments and proceeded to charge him yesterday for using and possessing crystal meth. The man was released on a NT$50,000 bail and banned from leaving Kinmen, the office said. Army Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Chen Chien-yi (陳建義) told a news conference yesterday that He has been removed and another officer is taking over the unit as the acting commander. The military
RSS