Adding heat to his triangular romance, DPP lawmaker Cheng Yu-cheng (鄭余鎮) yesterday asked a controversial lawyer to help him divorce his wife whom he painted as "incompatible and incommunicable."
While he stayed mum on his alleged bigamy, a US Web site for a county recorder's office showed that the legislator and his aide, Sophie Wang (王筱嬋), were married on July 2.
Bellicose lawyer Chiu Chang (邱彰), who in June was deprived of her office as a DPP legislator-at-large, appeared at the legislature yesterday morning, saying she wanted to deliver a divorce agreement to Cheng's wife Lu Pei-ying (呂珮茵).
PHOTO: LIU HSIN-TE, TAIPEI TIMES
Chiu said she did so at the request of the lawmaker, who is still in the US with Wang.
Cheng said in the divorce agreement that he and his wife, owing to incompatible personalities, have been unable to communicate or live with each other for years.
"So I have decided to seek a divorce and am willing to give my monthly salary [as a legislator] to the other party," the agreement signed by Cheng said.
None of Cheng's aides would take the document, which Chiu later displayed to the media. Lu, who has said she will never agree to a divorce, has quit coming to the legislature on the advice of family members that she stay out of the public eye.
According to Chiu, her client can still get a divorce, as US law stipulates that anyone who stays in the country for six weeks may file for a divorce.
A US court may grant a divorce request as long as the petitioner has fulfilled their obligation of informing their spouse of their intent to divorce, the lawyer said.
She quoted Cheng as saying he would give up his house, property, and money in exchange for his freedom.
"I want to live my own life now that I am almost 60," the lawmaker reportedly told his lawyer on the phone. "I only hope Lu would let me go. Whatever terms she puts forth, I will try to accommodate."
Chiu, who herself has been divorced twice, said she would fly to the US next week to handle the case and urged Lu to sign the agreement.
"Marriage should not be used as a tool to enslave another," she said. "It is meaningless to keep a spouse when love ceases to exist."
The blunt-speaking lawyer added that Cheng and Lu have been separated for more than 20 years.
She insisted that US codes apply to Taiwanese couples here after the country's accession to the World Trade Organization early this year. Chiu would not comment on Cheng's alleged bigamy or financial woes, saying she is not in charge of her client's financial affairs.
The web site of the Clark County Recorder's Office in Las Vegas, Nevada shows that Cheng and Wang had been married on July 2. Their marriage certificate is numbered D454428.
Though bigamy is outlawed in Taiwan, there is little law-enforcement officers can do with Cheng as long as he does not seek to have his second marriage registered here, according to legal experts.
They said the government can not punish any bigamist whose second marriage is carried out overseas and the legitimacy of the second marriage remains uncertain.
However, they cast doubt on Chiu's contention that the lawmaker can unilaterally divorce Lu despite the wife's objection.
A Ministry of Justice official said the country will not recognize any divorce involving ROC citizens whose rights are not properly protected during its proceedings.
Meanwhile Cheng's family members would not talk to the media, saying the only thing they can do now is patiently wait for the lawmaker to come around and return to their fold.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
RSS