Northern Taiwan Society vice president Chin Heng-wei (金恆煒) said on Saturday that Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou's (馬英九) wife, Chow Mei-ching (周美青), had stolen newspapers from Harvard University's library when she studied there, an allegation that Chow denied.
Chin made the allegation during a Democratic Progressive Party campaign rally in Taichung.
Chin said that after police caught her stealing the newspapers, the director of the library's Chinese department, Wu Wen-jin (
Asked for a response at a KMT campaign workshop yesterday, Ma declined to comment on the accusation.
He later dismissed it as false.
Later yesterday afternoon, Chow also issued a statement, calling Chin's accusation "nasty" and "untrue." She said she would file a lawsuit against Chin and anyone who made similar accusations.
Approached for comment, Ma camp spokesman Lo Chih-chiang (
Commenting on Chow's decision to sue him over the accusation, Chin later yesterday said that Ma and Chow were fighting a desperate battle because he was not the first person to have made the allegation and that he had obtained the information from a book.
Chin said that "somebody" would hold a press conference on Thursday to tell "a complete story of the matter."
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
The Ministry of Culture yesterday officially launched the “We TAIWAN” cultural program on Osaka’s Nakanoshima sandbank, with the program’s mascot receiving overwhelming popularity. The cultural program, which runs from Aug. 2 to 20, was designed to partner with and capitalize on the 2025 World Expo that is being held in Osaka, Japan, from April 13 to Oct. 13, the ministry said. On the first day of the cultural program, its mascot, a green creature named “a-We,” proved to be extremely popular, as its merch was immediately in high demand. Long lines formed yesterday for the opening
STAY VIGILANT: People should reduce the risk of chronic liver inflammation by avoiding excessive alcohol consumption, smoking and eating pickled foods, the physician said A doctor last week urged people to look for five key warning signs of acute liver failure after popular producer-turned-entertainer Shen Yu-lin (沈玉琳) was reportedly admitted to an intensive care unit for fulminant hepatitis. Fulminant hepatitis is the rapid and massive death of liver cells, impairing the organ’s detoxification, metabolic, protein synthesis and bile production functions, which if left untreated has a mortality rate as high as 80 percent, according to the Web site of Advancing Clinical Treatment of Liver Disease, an international organization focused on liver disease prevention and treatment. People with hepatitis B or C are at higher risk of