In a bid to relieve tensions stemming from the presidential campaign, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said yesterday that he would drop all lawsuits he filed during the campaign in the hopes of fostering a society of reconciliation.
Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) said Ma would drop six lawsuits he filed during the campaign and would not appeal any cases whose rulings have been handed down.
The six cases are a defamation suit against his former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) rival Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) regarding allegations about Ma’s special allowance fund, two slander charges against former Executive Yuan spokesman Shieh Jhy-wey (謝志偉) over allegations Ma had been a student spy in the US and a defamation suit against DPP Taipei City Councilwoman Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) over Ma’s relations with the builder of the Taipei Arena.
Ma will also drop a defamation lawsuit against former DPP legislator Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) and DPP Taipei Councilwoman Yen Sheng-kuan (顏聖冠) over his special allowance fund, and a defamation suit against former DPP legislator Tsai Chi-fang (蔡啟芳) and political analyst Tsai Han-shun (蔡漢勳) over Ma’s political donations, Wang said.
However, charges filed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) on Ma’s behalf, for example, would not be dropped, Wang said.
Ma will not drop the charges he filed against three prosecutors, Hou Kuan-jen (侯寬仁), Shen Ming-lun (沈明倫) and Chou Shih-yu (周士榆), who were members of the Supreme Court Prosecutors’ Office special investigating panel probing corruption allegations against Ma and the KMT.
The cases involve the KMT’s three-in-one sale of the Broadcasting Corp of China, China Television Co and the Central Motion Picture Corp to China Times Group subsidiary Jungli Investment Co in 2005 for NT$9.3 billion (US$290.6 million) and the KMT’s sale of the Institute of Policy Research and Development building to Yuan Lih Construction Corp for NT$4.3 billion last year. Both deals took place when Ma was party chairman.
The three prosecutors are also investigating Ma’s use of his special allowance fund during his terms as minister of justice, vice chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council and other positions.
Ma has requested the court remove the three prosecutors from those cases because of “bias.”
Ma was acquitted in a second trial on allegations of misusing his special allowance fund during his term as Taipei mayor.
Wang said Ma has also urged those who have made “false accusations” against him to stop such acts and to work to build a society of reconciliation and coexistence. He stopped short of asking them to drop any lawsuits they have brought against him, Wang said.
DPP Secretary-General Wang Tuoh (王拓) welcomed Ma’s announcement, but refused to speculate about his motivation.
Wang said the move would help promote reconciliation between the two parties and the DPP would drop its election-related cases against Ma.
DPP Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯), however, said Ma’s move was just an attempt to divert attention from his poor performance.
Additional reporting by Rich Chang
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and