Former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday filed a defamation lawsuit against a political commentator, who claimed that Chen deposited more than NT$30 billion (US$926 million) in Japan.
Dismissing Yao Li-ming’s (姚立明) allegations as “preposterous,” the statement issued by Chen’s office said that Yao, a professor of administrative management at Chinese Culture University, should have been careful in his words and deeds instead of making groundless accusations and damaging Chen’s reputation and social status.
Yao claimed during a TV talk show on Monday that he had learned through “official channels” that Chen had deposited more than NT$30 billion in Japan.
The statement urged prosecutors to launch an investigation into the matter so they can help correct any public misinformation and defend Chen’s rights.
Yao said yesterday that Chen’s legal action would not only give him an opportunity to tell the court what happened, but also offered the court a chance to find out whether Chen had hidden deposits overseas.
Yao said he has testimony from witnesses and evidence to substantiate his claim and would be happy to testify in court.
Speaking late last night, Chen dismissed the allegation as ridiculous, saying he would commit seppuku if he were found to have NT$30 billion in Japan.
In related news, Chen’s office yesterday rebutted media reports that he used three of his bodyguards as figureheads for money laundering. The reports also alleged that former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) used two other bodyguards to wire more than NT$1.5 billion abroad.
Chen’s office issued a statement asking the Special Investigation Panel to provide correct information on the three bodyguards in question — Cheng Kuang-lin (鄭光麟), Liao Ching-sung (廖青松) and Lee Chih-chung (李志中).
The trio did not serve Chen during his presidency, the statement said. Neither did they have any financial relationship with Chen and his family nor did they serve as figureheads to facilitate money laundering, it said.
As for the two other bodyguards — Chen Kuo-sheng (陳國勝) and Lee Chung-jen (李忠仁) — Chen’s office said that a record of the prosecutors’ interview of Liu Tai-ying (劉泰英), the former chairman of China Development Industrial Bank, during their investigation into the Zanadau scandal in 2003 showed that Chen Kuo-sheng and Lee Chung-jen served as figureheads for Lee Teng-hui.
Liu was convicted of his involvement in the case in which a woman accused him of accepting money in return for his help in securing bank financing.
The statement said that judicial investigation found that more than NT$1.5 billion had been wired overseas between 1995 and 2001 using the two guards’ accounts.
However, prosecutors did not pursue this part of the case, the statement said, adding that they suspected prosecutors did it deliberately.
Liu had also served as the unofficial treasurer of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and was a close friend of Lee Teng-hui. He is widely thought to have had absolute control over the KMT’s assets during Lee Teng-hui’s presidency.
Later yesterday Lee Teng-hui’s office yesterday issued a statement, denying that Chen Kuo-sheng and Lee Chung-jen were his bodyguards.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
The age requirement for commercial pilots and airline transport pilots is to be lowered by two years, to 18 and 21 years respectively, to expand the pool of pilots in accordance with international standards, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications announced today. The changes are part of amendments to articles 93, 119 and 121 of the Regulations Governing Licenses and Ratings for Airmen (航空人員檢定給證管理規則). The amendments take into account age requirements for aviation personnel certification in the Convention on International Civil Aviation and EU’s aviation safety regulations, as well as the practical needs of managing aviation personnel licensing, the ministry said. The ministry
RSS