Former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator Shen Fu-hsiung (
The controversy nearly derailed Chen Shui-bian's campaign to be re-elected president against competition from then Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Lien Chan (連戰).
Days before the 2004 poll, Chen Yu-hao accused Chen Shui-bian of accepting political donations six times and said that, accompanied by Shen, he had met first lady Wu Shu-jen (
His claim raised questions about Chen Shui-bian's integrity and caused Chen's support rating in polls to fall.
At that time, Shen would not answer directly when asked about Chen Yu-hao's claims and the alleged meeting with Wu.
Shen yesterday confirmed he had taken Chen Yu-hao to visit Wu and added that the president's son-in-law's recent alleged involvement in insider trading simply "mimicked" the behavior of his mother-in-law Wu, who often made phone calls to meddle in governmental issues.
Shen yesterday also ridiculed Chen Shui-bian, saying he had become a "lame duck" president.
But Chao's case had not yet burned the president and the first lady, he said.
"If the scandal is found to be related to the president and his wife, then the president would become a roast duck," he added.
Shen said the most urgent thing for Chen Shui-bian now was to sit down and talk with Wu and Presidential Office Deputy Secretary-General Ma Yung-cheng (
"If the president can correct his mistakes, I believe he will still be able to leave office with a good reputation," Shen said, adding that he regretted he had not made things clear in 2004.
If he had done so, he said, the case involving Chao might not have occurred.
"I was worried that if I told the whole story about the political donation, the DPP would place all the responsibility for the president's failure to be re-elected on me," Shen said.
DPP Legislator Lin Cho-shui (
"If the president had dealt with those controversies well, the Chao case would not have happened," Lin said.
But DPP Legislator Gao Jyh-peng (
In response to Shen's claim, Presidential Office Spokesman David Lee (李南陽) said yesterday the office had made a thorough explanation in response to Chen Yu-hao's accusations in 2004 and would not comment on the matter now.
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
RSS