A lawyer for Li Jianjun (
Li, a self-described feng shui expert, visited Taiwan in 1992 and married a former television hostess. Having entered Taiwan without a visa the same year, Li has since been barred from re-entering the country.
But it is Li's new book which has stirred up controversy here, detailing his encounters with a number of Taiwan's leading politicians, including Vice President Lien Chan (
In the book, which was released in Taiwan on Feb. 1, Li depicted Chu Wang-ching (
Chu, who has denied having close contacts with Li, was furious with what she read in the book and filed libel charges earlier this month against Li and the publishers of the book.
To prevent further damage to her reputation, Chu requested and obtained a court order prohibiting the publisher from selling any more copies of the book.
Following the granting of a temporary injunction banning the book, court officials raided the Taipei offices of the publishers, Way to World (
However, another 30,000 copies, which have been distributed to a number of bookstores, are still on sale.
Unhappy with the raid, the publishers and the distributor held a news conference yesterday, sponsored by New Party legislator and vice presidential candidate Elmer Feng (
"We're a small publishing company which has no connection to politics. But this court action seems like pure politics," said Liang Ling-shu
Feng alleged Lien was behind Chu's legal action against Li and the other parties, as Li's book contained negative comments about the KMT's presidential candidate.
Li, who is currently residing in the US, talked to media in Taiwan by phone during the news conference.
"Everything I wrote in the book is no less than the truth," he said.
Lin Hsien-tung (
Lin also said they are seeking compensation of NT$100 million for Li and NT$32.68 million for the other clients.
Chuang Shui-ming (
He said he made the decision on the grounds that there is a real danger of Chu's reputation being hurt by the contents of the book.
Because of media attention on the case, Chiang said: "It seems everyone is filing a lawsuit during the run-up to the election. But we can only process these as we would do with any other case, and that is without bias."
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