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
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
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
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
RSS