Pan-blue media identity jock Jaw Shaw-kong (
The suit was filed against President Chen Shui-bian (
The president sued Jaw and two pan-blue legislators after they made allegations of bribery and sexual misconduct between Chen and Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso, based on a report Jaw said he found on a Web site.
Reporters later found the report had come from the official site of the People's Daily, the state-run mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party.
Although the suit against Jaw was dismissed, the pan-blue lawmakers were forced to print an apology for their remarks.
However, Jaw filed a countersuit, claiming he was exercising his right to free speech and that he had been slandered by Chen and Su's criticism of his actions.
Chen in October 2004 quoted a classical Chinese poem which runs: "How the evil spirits clamor when the going gets tough" to express his displeasure over Jaw's allegations.
Jaw claimed that this meant Chen had defamed him by calling him an "evil spirit."
Premier Su Tseng-chang, who in 2004 was the Presidential Office secretary general, also chided Jaw as being a "disgrace" and an "unscrupulous media man."
Jaw, who has been Chen's nemesis since the two competed for the Taipei mayorship in 1994, filed a suit asking Chen and Su to run ads in all of the major Chinese-language newspapers to publicly apologize to him.
But the Taipei District Court yesterday decided against Jaw.
"I will appeal the suit in the Tai-wan High Court," UFO Radio chairman Jaw told reporters yesterday.
"Chen and Su's words were in response to Jaw's allegations that Chen offered money to a foreign ally, and the court does not think these responses slandered Jaw," Taipei District Court spokesman Liu Shou-sung (劉壽嵩) said.
Jaw yesterday said that Chen and Su were senior politicians who should have shown greater tolerance to media criticism, but instead used stern language to "attack his character."
Chen's lawyer, Ku Li-hsiung (顧立雄), had told the court that the president was merely airing his personal grievances about being misunderstood despite his hard work in promoting the nation's foreign relations.
Although Chen won the suit yesterday, in January he lost his libel suit against Jaw over the allegation that Chen had offered US$1 million to Moscoso.
"The issues relating to Taiwan's financing of its diplomatic allies concern the national interest and therefore are open to discussion," the Taipei District Court's ruling had said.
But in the same case, the court ruled in favor of Chen against People First Party legislators Liu Wen-hsiung (劉文雄) and Tsai Chung-han (蔡中涵), who were required to publish half-page apologies in the nation's major Chinese-language newspapers.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
Taiwan’s armed forces have established response protocols for a wide range of sudden contingencies, including the “Wan Chun Plan” to protect the head of state, the Ministry of Defense (MND) said today. After US President Donald Trump on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, concerns have been raised as to whether China would launch a similar “decapitation strike” on Taiwan. The armed forces regularly coordinate with relevant agencies and practice drills to ensure preparedness for a wide range of scenarios, Vice Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) told reporters before a
RSS