People First Party (PFP) Chairman and presidential candidate James Soong (宋楚瑜) had harsh words on Friday for a former American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) official who portrayed him in a less-than-flattering light in a 2006 cable recently leaked by WikiLeaks.
The cable in question, which was sent from AIT’s Taipei office on Nov. 29, 2006, and signed by then-director Stephen Young, depicted Soong as trying to make a political deal before the Taipei mayoral election, which was held on Dec. 9 that year.
“Soong apparently hoped but failed to trade his support for Ma’s [Ying-jeou’s (馬英九)] 2008 presidential bid in return for Ma’s agreement to support Soong as the ‘pan-blue’ Taipei mayoral candidate,” the cable read. “Rumors continue to circulate that Soong might withdraw from the race if Ma and the KMT agree to reserve certain legislative districts for PFP candidates in 2007.”
In describing Soong’s failure to generate campaign momentum, the cable said it “may reflect widespread public perceptions that he is a spoiler and a political opportunist.”
Soong finished far behind winner Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) with just over 4 percent of the vote.
After the cable was played up in the local media, the veteran politician responded on Friday that Young was “lousy” and “rude,” and denied having tried to make any deal ahead of the 2006 election.
Soong hinted that the cables reflected a grudge Young had against him.
“Many of the cables do not conform to reality and this Mr. Stephan Young is especially lousy and an ugly American because he tried to threaten the PFP into supporting arms purchases,” Soong said. “However, the PFP remained the political party most opposed to big ticket military purchases. They wanted us to buy Kidd frigates. How could I agree? So he [Young] was very impolite to me and I was very impolite to him.”
Soong also said he requested that the US conduct a probe into the controversial election-eve shooting in 2004 in which then-president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was injured while canvassing for votes in Tainan.
Chen won the election the next day by a razor-thin margin and Soong, who was the vice presidential candidate on the losing ticket with Lien Chan (連戰), along with others, remained suspicious about the shooting, believing it cost them the election.
Soong said US officials openly promised him and Lien that an investigation committee would be formed, but failed to deliver.
However, the PFP chairman said he did not want to engage in a war of words.
“It is not important to be a senior official. What is important is to serve the people,” he added.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS