The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday said it would not press charges against the United Daily News (UDN) journalist who wrote that the US government had pressured Taiwan to produce biological warfare agents, on the grounds that the story was written based on a falsified document provided by a source and the journalist had sought to verify the information before the story was published.
The Executive Yuan denounced the story as having apparent errors when it was published in July.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) spokesperson Hsieh Pei-fen (謝佩芬) and the party’s New Taipei City councilor candidate Wu Cheng (吳崢) on July 18 took the case to the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office, accusing the journalist, surnamed Kao (高), of forging documents and making false claims.
Photo: Wu Hsin-tien, Taipei Times
During questioning, Kao told prosecutors that the “South Sea Work Meeting Minutes” that he cited in his story was given to him by a long and trusted friend who was a political news reporter before going into business.
Kao said that he was told that the minutes were from a person working in government, but his friend did not disclose the person’s identity.
Kao said that he checked with a Ministry of National Defense (MND) spokesperson before the story was published, asking about the “P4 laboratory” (biosafety level 4 lab) mentioned in the minutes.
He said the spokesperson told him that the ministry “is not researching and developing biological warfare agents” and “has no plan to do so.”
The prosecutors’ office said that the meeting minutes that Kao cited in his story had a different format from the one used by the Executive Yuan.
Moreover, unlike the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, the Taiwanese military does not use the word “our party” in accordance with the principle of administrative neutrality, it said.
Although Kao had twice verified the information with an MND spokesperson, he only sent screenshots of parts of the minutes alleging that the US government had asked Taiwan to research and develop biological warfare agents instead of the entire minutes, the office said.
Meanwhile, page 1 of the minutes clearly stated the name and date of the Cabinet-level meeting and that it was presided over by then-premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), the office said.
“As an experienced political news reporter, Kao should know that the minutes, on which his entire story was based, came from a Cabinet-level meeting. As such, the authenticity of the minutes, and the accuracy of the content therein should all be verified before the publication of the story,” the office said.
However, Kao only checked with an spokesperson, but not the Executive Yuan, the office said.
His verification process was by no means “adequate” or “thorough,” it said.
Despite the oversight, the office said that it would not prosecute Kao as it is difficult to prove that he had intended to forge documents.
Presidential Office spokeswoman Lin Yu-chan (林聿禪) said that the United Daily News should issue a correction, take down the false report and apologize to the public.
The newspaper has not made corrections and taken down the report even though the Presidential Office, the defense ministry and Su have since July explained multiple times why the report was false.
“Chinese state media have also helped spread the report, making it a fuel for Beijing’s cognitive warfare against Taiwan. Taiwanese media have also become a content farm for fake news, confusing the public with false reports,” Lin said.
The report also tarnished Taiwan’s image in the international community and could have triggered international sanctions, she said.
“While the government supports freedom of the press and speech, using misinformation or disinformation hurts the people and the country. The United Daily News should take its social responsibility seriously and admit that it is wrong,” Lin said.
CALL FOR SUPPORT: President William Lai called on lawmakers across party lines to ensure the livelihood of Taiwanese and that national security is protected President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called for bipartisan support for Taiwan’s investment in self-defense capabilities at the christening and launch of two coast guard vessels at CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard in Kaohsiung. The Taipei (台北) is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels, and the Siraya (西拉雅) is the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) first-ever ocean patrol vessel, the government said. The Taipei is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels with a displacement of about 4,000 tonnes, Lai said. This ship class was ordered as a result of former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) 2018
‘SECRETS’: While saying China would not attack during his presidency, Donald Trump declined to say how Washington would respond if Beijing were to take military action US President Donald Trump said that China would not take military action against Taiwan while he is president, as the Chinese leaders “know the consequences.” Trump made the statement during an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes program that aired on Sunday, a few days after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in South Korea. “He [Xi] has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘we would never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences,” Trump said in the interview. However, he repeatedly declined to say exactly how Washington would respond in
WARFARE: All sectors of society should recognize, unite, and collectively resist and condemn Beijing’s cross-border suppression, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said The number of Taiwanese detained because of legal affairs by Chinese authorities has tripled this year, as Beijing intensified its intimidation and division of Taiwanese by combining lawfare and cognitive warfare, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) made the statement in response to questions by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen (沈柏洋) about the government’s response to counter Chinese public opinion warfare, lawfare and psychological warfare. Shen said he is also being investigated by China for promoting “Taiwanese independence.” He was referring to a report published on Tuesday last week by China’s state-run Xinhua news agency,
‘ADDITIONAL CONDITION’: Taiwan will work with like-minded countries to protect its right to participate in next year’s meeting, the foreign ministry said The US will “continue to press China for security arrangements and protocols that safeguard all participants when attending APEC meetings in China,” a US Department of State spokesperson said yesterday, after Beijing suggested that members must adhere to its “one China principle” to participate. “The United States insists on the full and equal participation of all APEC member economies — including Taiwan — consistent with APEC’s guidelines, rules and established practice, as affirmed by China in its offer to host in 2026,” the unnamed spokesperson said in response to media queries about China putting a “one China” principle condition on Taiwan’s
RSS