The People First Party (PFP) legislators who were accused of slander by the Presidential Office refused to apologize yesterday and tried to shift the focus of attention off themselves to the recent allegations about the government's overseas donations.
UFO Radio chairman Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康) was also unrepentant yesterday, saying he would take legal action if Presidential Office Secretary-General Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) did not apologize for calling him names within three days.
The Presidential Office yesterday pressed charges against PFP caucus whip Liu Wen-hsiung (劉文雄), Legislator Tsai Chung-han (蔡中涵) and Jaw for accusing President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) of giving US$1 million to former Panamanian president Mireya Moscoso as a birthday gift.
Liu said yesterday that he would "examine and reflect on the usage of settlement fee" to signify the US$ 1 million.
"But the real problem here is that the government uses secret budgets to provide financial aid to foreign governments and yet it still fails to gain diplomatic advantages. We should not shift the [media] focus to the lawsuit," Liu said.
Liu said that PFP colleagues had told him to refine his language, and so he would examine himself accordingly.
"But this is still more refined than Minister of Foreign Affairs Mark Chen's (陳唐山) talk of LP [lam pa]," Liu argued.
Liu said he had wanted to retaliate by suing Su for calling him a "rogue politician," but then PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) persuaded him not to.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative caucus, meanwhile, gave its support to the Presidential Office's lawsuit. The caucus also demanded Soong make an apology or it might end negotiations with its PFP counterpart.
"Liu quoted information from the Chinese government and falsely accused President Chen," DPP caucus whip Lee Chun-yee (
"The PFP should immediately remove Liu from its legislators-at-large list and Soong should offer an apology, or we will consider closing all negotiations with the PFP," Lee said.
Liu is ranked No. 1 on the PFP legislators-at-large list for the next legislature.
Jaw also demanded Su apologize to him for calling him a "rogue media professional."
"I will decide on what action to take based on Su's response," Jaw said.
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 8:31am today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was located in Hualien County, about 70.3 kilometers south southwest of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 23.2km, according to the administration. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County, where it measured 3 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 2 in Hualien and Nantou counties, the CWA said.
The Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) yesterday announced a fundraising campaign to support survivors of the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck Myanmar on March 28, with two prayer events scheduled in Taipei and Taichung later this week. “While initial rescue operations have concluded [in Myanmar], many survivors are now facing increasingly difficult living conditions,” OCAC Minister Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) told a news conference in Taipei. The fundraising campaign, which runs through May 31, is focused on supporting the reconstruction of damaged overseas compatriot schools, assisting students from Myanmar in Taiwan, and providing essential items, such as drinking water, food and medical supplies,
Prosecutors today declined to say who was questioned regarding alleged forgery on petitions to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, after Chinese-language media earlier reported that members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Youth League were brought in for questioning. The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau confirmed that two people had been questioned, but did not disclose any further information about the ongoing investigation. KMT Youth League members Lee Hsiao-liang (李孝亮) and Liu Szu-yin (劉思吟) — who are leading the effort to recall DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) and Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) — both posted on Facebook saying: “I
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