The libel trial pitting Vice President Annette Lu (
Amid much media fanfare, the Taipei District Court opened the high-profile case in the morning. Lu is suing the political weekly for running a report accusing her of spreading rumors that President Chen was having an affair with his interpreter.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
Lu denies spreading the rumor and demands in the suit that The Journalist make a formal public apology.
The vice president did not attend the hearing in person but had six lawyers representing her. Of eight defendants from The Journalist, only four -- President Wang Chien Chuang (
During the hearing that lasted more than four hours, debate centered on whether Yang Chao, who claimed to be the source of the disputed report, had received a voice message and a telephone call from the vice president on Nov. 3.
Yang said he received the call between 11pm and 11:05 pm. He said the vice president had earlier left him a voice message, saying, "I am Vice President Lu. I have something to tell you."
Yang said Lu told him during the subsequent three-minute call, "Hsiao Bi-khim (
Yang's claims, however, have been weakened by the fact that his phone records for Nov. 3 contain four outgoing calls and one incoming call, none of which was held with the vice president.
During the hearing, the magazine's lawyers said the vice president may have tampered with Yang's phone records, deleting records of the two crucial calls.
"We cannot rule out the possibility that the records have been tampered with. The possible scenarios are either that the calls weren't made, or the records have been deleted, or technical problems have made this strange thing happen," said Lo Ming-tung (
The vice president's lawyers claimed the vice president would not and could not have modified Yang's phone records.
Lu's lawyers argued that telecommunications operators jealously guard customer phone records, which form the basis of phone bills. It was impossible that Yang's mobile phone operator, Taiwan Cellular (
They also said that Taiwan Cellular officials had stated clearly that the company's software and hardware technicians work separately so that neither of them would possibly be able to change the records.
Lu's lawyers contended that The Journalist had fabricated the report to defame the vice president.
Also under robust debate was the question of which side should bear the burden of proof.
The Journalist argued the burden lay with the suing party. But the vice president's lawyers countered that the magazine had to prove its own assertions that Yang's phone records had been tampered with.
Presiding judge Lai Yang-hua (
Since The Journalist published the report on Nov. 16 last year the two sides have traded accusations.
The judge requested both sides put previous public accusations behind them and refrain from using out-of-court statements against each other during the trial.
To support their denial that Yang's phone records had been modified, the vice president's lawyers have asked Taiwan Cellular to testify on their behalf, while The Journalist said Yang's phone records should be assessed by experts.
The magazine in turn requested that Lu's phone records for Nov. 3 be investigated.
The trial was recessed until after Chinese New Year.
The judge said a procedural meeting will be held on Feb. 8, in which he will sort out the case's contentions with each side and examine their evidence.
Taiwan is gearing up to celebrate the New Year at events across the country, headlined by the annual countdown and Taipei 101 fireworks display at midnight. Many of the events are to be livesteamed online. See below for lineups and links: Taipei Taipei’s New Year’s Party 2026 is to begin at 7pm and run until 1am, with the theme “Sailing to the Future.” South Korean girl group KARA is headlining the concert at Taipei City Hall Plaza, with additional performances by Amber An (安心亞), Nick Chou (周湯豪), hip-hop trio Nine One One (玖壹壹), Bii (畢書盡), girl group Genblue (幻藍小熊) and more. The festivities are to
Auckland rang in 2026 with a downtown fireworks display launched from New Zealand’s tallest structure, Sky Tower, making it the first major city to greet the new year at a celebration dampened by rain, while crowds in Taipei braved the elements to watch Taipei 101’s display. South Pacific countries are the first to bid farewell to 2025. Clocks struck midnight in Auckland, with a population of 1.7 million, 18 hours before the famous ball was to drop in New York’s Times Square. The five-minute display involved 3,500 fireworks launched from the 240m Sky Tower. Smaller community events were canceled across New Zealand’s
‘IRRESPONSIBLE’: Beijing’s constant disruption of the ‘status quo’ in the Taiwan Strait has damaged peace, stability and security in the Indo-Pacific region, MOFA said The Presidential Office yesterday condemned China’s launch of another military drill around Taiwan, saying such actions are a “unilateral provocation” that destabilizes regional peace and stability. China should immediately stop the irresponsible and provocative actions, Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said, after the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) yesterday announced the start of a new round of joint exercises around Taiwan by the army, navy and air force, which it said were approaching “from different directions.” Code-named “Justice Mission 2025,” the exercises would be conducted in the Taiwan Strait and in areas north, southwest, southeast and east of Taiwan
UNDER WAY: The contract for advanced sensor systems would be fulfilled in Florida, and is expected to be completed by June 2031, the Pentagon said Lockheed Martin has been given a contract involving foreign military sales to Taiwan to meet what Washington calls “an urgent operational need” of Taiwan’s air force, the Pentagon said on Wednesday. The contract has a ceiling value of US$328.5 million, with US$157.3 million in foreign military sales funds obligated at the time of award, the Pentagon said in a statement. “This contract provides for the procurement and delivery of 55 Infrared Search and Track Legion Enhanced Sensor Pods, processors, pod containers and processor containers required to meet the urgent operational need of the Taiwan air force,” it said. The contract’s work would be
RSS