Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City Councilor Chung Pei-chun (鍾沛君) yesterday said that media personality Lucifer Chu (朱學恒) was exploiting the justice system to whitewash his reputation after he filed for an investigation into himself over her allegations that he sexually harassed her.
Chung on Thursday accused Chu, a political commentator and popular YouTuber, of forcibly hugging and kissing her at a dinner in August last year.
Chu wrote an apology and on Friday suspended his YouTube channel, while saying he would stop appearing in the media and at public events for the time being.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
He yesterday filed a judicial complaint with the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office, seeking an investigation into himself.
However, Chung told a news conference in Taipei that “Chu is playacting to exploit the justice system and deceive the public to gain their sympathy, as he has shown no remorse for his behavior.”
“The pain is still there, and to this day I still have nightmares, and get scared when someone approaches suddenly,” she said. “It still casts a dark shadow over me.”
She said that Chu had made unwanted physical contact with other women at social functions, but they have not spoken out publicly.
In the latest allegation of sexual harassment against a high-profile figure in Taiwan, independent Yunlin County Councilor Chen Fang-ying (陳芳盈) yesterday said that a media figure last year asked her to have sex with him during a social gathering at a KTV.
Chen wrote online that she had to speak up to denounce what she called a brazen act by the person, who she said had spoken on talk shows attacking Chu.
Chen said the incident was a gathering with local politicians and members of the media, and the person, speaking openly in front of other present, asked her twice to have sex with him.
Following her post, people who said they were present at the event identified the person as veteran TV show host and political pundit Chu Kai-hsiang (朱凱翔).
Soon after, Chu Kai-hsiang posted a message online apologizing to Chen.
“Although I don’t remember saying those words ... if Councilor Chen felt [I had done so], then I offer my apology,” he said.
“I shall reflect on gender issues ... and I will fully cooperate, if Chen wishes to file a complaint for a judicial investigation,” he said.
Separately, Wu Nai-teh (吳乃德), a retired Academia Sinica research fellow renowned for his work on democratization and transitional justice, on Friday offered an apology to a woman surnamed Huang (黃), who had said he had sexually harassed her 13 years ago when she was a college student.
Writing on social media on Sunday, she said she wanted to talk about the 2010 experience to speak to others and her past self, after reading so many #MeToo articles.
Huang said she spoke with a senior student who was in the same field as Wu immediately after the incident, but they told her she should let it go.
She later received a call from Wu, who said he was sorry and should not have done what he did to her, she wrote.
Wu said he apologized to Huang and for the torment she has endured over the past 13 years.
Wu said he is resigning from the board of the Taiwan Association for Truth and Reconciliation, an organization he established in 2007 that focuses on transitional justice, and would no longer participate in public affairs because he has lost the public’s trust.
Additional reporting by CNA
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
The long-awaited Taichung aquarium is expected to open next year after more than a decade of development. The building in Cingshui District (清水) is to feature a large ocean aquarium on the first floor, coral display area on the second floor, a jellyfish tank and Dajia River (大甲溪) basin display on the third, a river estuary display and restaurant on the fourth, and a cafe and garden on the fifth. As it is near Wuci Fishing Port (梧棲漁港), many are expecting the opening of the aquarium to bring more tourism to the harbor. Speaking at the city council on Monday, Taichung City Councilor
A fourth person has died in a food poisoning outbreak linked to the Xinyi (信義) branch of Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in Taipei, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said on Monday. It was the second fatality in three days, after another was announced on Saturday. The 40-year-old woman experienced multiple organ failure in the early hours on Monday, and the family decided not to undergo emergency resuscitation, Wang said. She initially showed signs of improvement after seeking medical treatment for nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but her condition worsened due to an infection, he said. Two others who
Taiwanese should be mindful when visiting China, as Beijing in July is likely to tighten the implementation of policies on national security following the introduction of two regulations, a researcher said on Saturday. China on Friday unveiled the regulations governing the law enforcement and judicial activities of national security agencies. They would help crack down on “illegal” and “criminal” activities that Beijing considers to be endangering national security, according to reports by China’s state media. The definition of what constitutes a national security threat in China is vague, Taiwan Thinktank researcher Wu Se-chih (吳瑟致) said. The two procedural regulations are to provide Chinese