The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the People First Party (PFP) yesterday jointly filed a civil lawsuit against President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), demanding that Chen apologize for his remarks that Beijing had been secretly helping the pan-blue camp to stonewall his government.
In a recent Washington Post interview, published on Oct. 10, Chen claimed that "China has taken heart at the cooperation between the KMT and the PFP in obstructing the DPP government's policies," and that the two parties have been given clandestine assistance from Beijing.
In response, KMT legislative caucus leader Lee Chia-chin (李嘉進) and PFP legislative caucus leader Chou Hsi-wei (周錫瑋) -- along with some other blue-camp lawmakers -- filed a libel suit against the President on Oct. 14.
However, according to Article 52 of the Constitution of the ROC, "The President shall not be liable to criminal prosecution unless he is charged with having committed an act of rebellion or treason."
Legislators from the two parties therefore decided to file a civil lawsuit, instead of a criminal one. They also demanded that Chen pay NT$1 as symbolic compensation, and publish his apology in the Washington Post as well as other influential print media.
"Not only did the President not apologize for his accusation, but he further provided fraudulent information through Presidential Office Secretary-General Chiou I-jen (
To defend Chen's controversial remarks, Chiou on Thursday cited a thesis published in 2001 by Bonnie Glaser -- a consultant at the Center for Strategic and International Studies -- which says that, according to some Chinese analysts, many KMT politicians advised Beijing not to have serious talks with Chen.
In response, the opposition displayed Glaser's statement of clarification during a press conference yesterday, in which the consultant says that the original meaning of her article has been distorted.
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