The Presidential Office yesterday dismissed accusations by fugitive tycoon Chen Yu-hao (陳由豪) that the president and first lady had lied about political donations he made in the 1990s, stating that the president had already clarified the issue in his national address last Tuesday.
"We do not want to see any person distribute any politically motivated information before the legislature votes on the recall motion," said Presidential Office Spokesman David Lee (李南陽).
Chen Yu-hao, formerly head of the defunct Tuntex group, said that President Chen Shui-bian's (
PHOTO: CHU YI-CHEN, TAIPEI TIMES
"Now how can they say Wu has never met me before?" Chen Yu-hao, now listed as one of Taiwan's 10 most wanted fugitives, said during a press conference televised live from Los Angeles.
"This is a problem of integrity ... showing A-bian has lied on the matter and may do so on other things," Chen Yu-hao said calling the president by his nickname.
"Mr Chen Shui-bian, you have lied and therefore should honor your previous pledge" of stepping down, he said.
In last Tuesday's public address, the president said he has never denied accepting political donations from Chen Yu-hao but the donations were legal. He also denied Wu had met with Chen Yu-hao before.
As prosecutors have completed the probe into the case last year, Lee called on Chen Yu-hao, now residing in the US, to return home and offer a better account of the matter as well as other judicial cases he is involved in instead of making groundless accusations overseas.
Chen Yu-hao fled Taiwan in 2002 after his Tuntex Group began having financial troubles. He was accused of embezzling funds from the group and left behind unsettled bank debts totaling more than NT$60 billion (US$1.8 billion).
Pan-green lawmakers yesterday said that Chen Yu-hao's accusation was entirely political and motivated by a desire to take revenge on the president.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Gao Jyh-peng (高志鵬) said Chen Yu-hao had enjoyed considerable privileges in running his business empire when the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) was in power. However, the DPP government refused to play ball with Chen Yu-hao and he was subsequently charged with fraud and other corporate crimes.
"Chen [Yu-hao] has harbored a grudge against the president and the DPP government for not allowing the continuation of his special privileges and for listing him as an economic criminal," Gao said, adding that he suspected the KMT was behind the attacks on the government from entrepreneurs who did not pay taxes or owed huge amounts of debt.
"I doubt, however, that the KMT promises that [these people] will be exempted from their liabilities or criminal punishment if the party wins the 2008 presidential election," Gao said.
DPP Legislator William Lai (
At that time, Chen Yu-hao faxed three open letters to the president and the offices of opposition lawmakers from abroad.
Wu dismissed the allegation and the pan-green camp defended Wu and the president, saying that Chen Yu-hao was just "a tool" being used by the pan-blue camp to assist former KMT chairman Lien Chan's (
Taiwan Solidarity Union caucus whip David Huang (
Pan-blue legislators, on the other hand, yesterday expressed their belief in the fugitive's claim.
"The president lied about the matter because four people -- Chen Yu-hao, former Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Shen Fu-hsiung (沈富雄) and both of their drivers -- corroborate that Chen You-hao did meet with Wu," said KMT Legislator Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱).
She said Chen Yu-hao's press conference justified the campaign to recall the president as a dishonest president should step down.
People First Party Legislator Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀) urged Chen Yu-hao to return to Taiwan and help clarify the whole matter.
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiu-chuan
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