Former presidential office spokesman Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) on Friday blasted the Taipei Prosecutors’ Office for reopening an investigation into the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) 2006 sale of the Broadcasting Corp of China (BCC), saying the renewed probe is aimed at persecuting former president Ma Ying-Jeou (馬英九).
“I would not say that I ‘suspect’ the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office of persecuting Ma. I am sure of it,” Lo said on Facebook.
He accused the office of being the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) “hit man.”
The move is immoral, he said, adding that he is “100 percent confident” that Ma, who is listed as a defendant in the case, is innocent.
“When authoritarianism becomes a fact, revolution becomes an obligation,” he said, quoting French poet Victor Hugo and using the slogan that became popular during the Sunflower movement in 2014.
“If the ‘cleanest’[former] president is sent to jail, this unscrupulous government will ultimately pay the price,” he said.
The KMT-controlled Central Investment Co in 2005 sold the BCC, China Television Co (CTV) and Central Motion Picture Corp (CMPC) at then-KMT chairman Ma’s orders.
Media personality Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康) in 2006 acquired the BCC’s broadcasting department for NT$1 billion (US$33 million at the current exchange rate).
Twenty-four Republican members of the US House of Representatives yesterday introduced a concurrent resolution calling on the US government to abolish the “one China” policy and restore formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Led by US representatives Tom Tiffany and Scott Perry, the resolution calls for not only re-establishing formal relations, but also urges the US Trade Representative to negotiate a free-trade agreement (FTA) with Taiwan and for US officials to advocate for Taiwan’s full membership in the UN and other international organizations. In a news release announcing the resolution, Tiffany, who represents a Wisconsin district, called the “one China” policy “outdated, counterproductive
Actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has “returned home” to Taiwan, and there are no plans to hold a funeral for the TV star who died in Japan from influenza- induced pneumonia, her family said in a statement Wednesday night. The statement was released after local media outlets reported that Barbie Hsu’s ashes were brought back Taiwan on board a private jet, which arrived at Taipei Songshan Airport around 3 p.m. on Wednesday. To the reporters waiting at the airport, the statement issued by the family read “(we) appreciate friends working in the media for waiting in the cold weather.” “She has safely returned home.
TRUMP ERA: The change has sparked speculation on whether it was related to the new US president’s plan to dismiss more than 1,000 Joe Biden-era appointees The US government has declined to comment on a post that indicated the departure of Laura Rosenberger as chair of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT). Neither the US Department of State nor the AIT has responded to the Central News Agency’s questions on the matter, after Rosenberger was listed as a former chair on the AIT’s official Web site, with her tenure marked as 2023 to this year. US officials have said previously that they usually do not comment on personnel changes within the government. Rosenberger was appointed head of the AIT in 2023, during the administration of former US president Joe
MUST REMAIN FREE: A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would lead to a global conflict, and if the nation blows up, the world’s factories would fall in a week, a minister said Taiwan is like Prague in 1938 facing Adolf Hitler; only if Taiwan remains free and democratic would the world be safe, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The ministry on Saturday said Corriere della Sera is one of Italy’s oldest and most read newspapers, frequently covers European economic and political issues, and that Wu agreed to an interview with the paper’s senior political analyst Massimo Franco in Taipei on Jan. 3. The interview was published on Jan. 26 with the title “Taiwan like Prague in 1938 with Hitler,” the ministry