The People First Party (PFP) legislators who were accused of slander by the Presidential Office refused to apologize yesterday and tried to shift the focus of attention off themselves to the recent allegations about the government's overseas donations.
UFO Radio chairman Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康) was also unrepentant yesterday, saying he would take legal action if Presidential Office Secretary-General Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) did not apologize for calling him names within three days.
The Presidential Office yesterday pressed charges against PFP caucus whip Liu Wen-hsiung (劉文雄), Legislator Tsai Chung-han (蔡中涵) and Jaw for accusing President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) of giving US$1 million to former Panamanian president Mireya Moscoso as a birthday gift.
Liu said yesterday that he would "examine and reflect on the usage of settlement fee" to signify the US$ 1 million.
"But the real problem here is that the government uses secret budgets to provide financial aid to foreign governments and yet it still fails to gain diplomatic advantages. We should not shift the [media] focus to the lawsuit," Liu said.
Liu said that PFP colleagues had told him to refine his language, and so he would examine himself accordingly.
"But this is still more refined than Minister of Foreign Affairs Mark Chen's (陳唐山) talk of LP [lam pa]," Liu argued.
Liu said he had wanted to retaliate by suing Su for calling him a "rogue politician," but then PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) persuaded him not to.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative caucus, meanwhile, gave its support to the Presidential Office's lawsuit. The caucus also demanded Soong make an apology or it might end negotiations with its PFP counterpart.
"Liu quoted information from the Chinese government and falsely accused President Chen," DPP caucus whip Lee Chun-yee (
"The PFP should immediately remove Liu from its legislators-at-large list and Soong should offer an apology, or we will consider closing all negotiations with the PFP," Lee said.
Liu is ranked No. 1 on the PFP legislators-at-large list for the next legislature.
Jaw also demanded Su apologize to him for calling him a "rogue media professional."
"I will decide on what action to take based on Su's response," Jaw said.
Four factors led to the declaration of a typhoon day and the cancelation of classes yesterday, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. Work and classes were canceled across Taiwan yesterday as Typhoon Krathon was forecast to make landfall in the southern part of the country. However, northern Taiwan had only heavy winds during the day and rain in the evening, leading some to criticize the cancelation. Speaking at a Taipei City Council meeting yesterday, Chiang said the decision was made due to the possibility of landslides and other problems in mountainous areas, the need to avoid a potentially dangerous commute for those
There are 77 incidents of Taiwanese travelers going missing in China between January last year and last month, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) said. More than 40 remain unreachable, SEF Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) said on Friday. Most of the reachable people in the more than 30 other incidents were allegedly involved in fraud, while some had disappeared for personal reasons, Luo said. One of these people is Kuo Yu-hsuan (郭宇軒), a 22-year-old Taiwanese man from Kaohsiung who went missing while visiting China in August. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office last month said in a news statement that he was under investigation
PRO-CHINA SLOGANS: Two DPP members criticized police officers’ lack of action at the scene, saying that law enforcement authorities should investigate the incident Chinese tourists allegedly interrupted a protest in Taipei on Tuesday held by Hong Kongers, knocked down several flags and shouted: “Taiwan and Hong Kong belong to China.” Hong Kong democracy activists were holding a demonstration as Tuesday was China’s National Day. A video posted online by civic group Hong Kong Outlanders shows a couple, who are allegedly Chinese, during the demonstration. “Today is China’s National Day, and I won’t allow the displaying of these flags,” the male yells in the video before pushing some demonstrators and knocking down a few flagpoles. Radio Free Asia reported that some of the demonstrators
China is attempting to subsume Taiwanese culture under Chinese culture by promulgating legislation on preserving documents on ties between the Minnan region and Taiwan, a Taiwanese academic said yesterday. China on Tuesday enforced the Fujian Province Minnan and Taiwan Document Protection Act to counter Taiwanese cultural independence with historical evidence that would root out misleading claims, Chinese-language media outlet Straits Today reported yesterday. The act is “China’s first ad hoc local regulations in the cultural field that involve Taiwan and is a concrete step toward implementing the integrated development demonstration zone,” Fujian Provincial Archives deputy director Ma Jun-fan (馬俊凡) said. The documents
RSS