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.
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY: Taiwan shares the same values as those that fought in WWII, and nations must unite to halt the expansion of a new authoritarian bloc, Lai said The government yesterday held a commemoration ceremony for Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, joining the rest of the world for the first time to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Taiwan honoring V-E Day signifies “our growing connections with the international community,” President William Lai (賴清德) said at a reception in Taipei on the 80th anniversary of V-E Day. One of the major lessons of World War II is that “authoritarianism and aggression lead only to slaughter, tragedy and greater inequality,” Lai said. Even more importantly, the war also taught people that “those who cherish peace cannot
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
The Philippines yesterday criticized a “high-risk” maneuver by a Chinese vessel near the disputed Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島) in a rare incident involving warships from the two navies. The Scarborough Shoal — a triangular chain of reefs and rocks in the contested South China Sea — has been a flash point between the countries since China seized it from the Philippines in 2012. Taiwan also claims the shoal. Monday’s encounter took place approximately 11.8 nautical miles (22km) southeast” of the Scarborough Shoal, the Philippine military said, during ongoing US-Philippine military exercises that Beijing has criticized as destabilizing. “The Chinese frigate BN 554 was
US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer began talks with high-ranking Chinese officials in Switzerland yesterday aiming to de-escalate a dispute that threatens to cut off trade between the world’s two biggest economies and damage the global economy. The US delegation has begun meetings in Geneva with a Chinese delegation led by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰), Xinhua News Agency said. Diplomats from both sides also confirmed that the talks have begun, but spoke anonymously and the exact location of the talks was not made public. Prospects for a major breakthrough appear dim, but there is
RSS