Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hung Hsiu-chu (
Social critic Cheng Tsun-chi (
Taipei District Prosecutors' Office Spokesman Lin Jinn-tsun (林錦村) yesterday said that Cheng and Hung, during the course of a television talk show hosted by Broadcasting Corporation of China (BCC) chairman Jaw Shao-kong (趙少康) and broadcast last September, defamed Yu by calling him a dog.
On the TV talk show Cheng said "You [Yu] are ungrateful. I call you a dog because I want [President] Chen Shui-bian (
Hung then said that Yu was the most loyal dog she had ever seen.
Hung responded to yesterday's indictment by saying that she respected the prosecutors' decision.
A number of legislators across party lines and TV talk show political commentators have faced slander lawsuits recently for their acrimonious comments on a number of TV talk shows.
Former Chinese Unity Promotion Party chairman Lin Cheng-chieh (林正杰) -- a democracy activist-turned pro-unification commentator -- was sentenced to fifty days in jail last December by the Taipei District Court for slapping and kicking Contemporary Monthly magazine editor Chin Heng-wei (金恆煒) during a TV debate last August on whether the president should resign over corruption allegations.
On Thursday, Taipei judges also fined President Chen Shui-bian (
The president accused Soong of secretly meeting with Chinese officials in the US, but provided no evidence to support the claim.
Judges fined Chen NT$3 million (US$90,900), and required him to print advertisements apoligizing to Soong in three major Chinese-language dailies. Soong had originally asked for NT$50 million in compensation.
Slander and libel lawsuits are a regular feature of the nation's politics.
Most major politicians have at one time been involved in such suits, either as the victim or the defendant.
Honor guards are to stop performing changing of the guard ceremonies around a statue of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) to avoid “worshiping authoritarianism,” the Ministry of Culture said yesterday. The fate of the bronze statue has long been the subject of fierce and polarizing debate in Taiwan, which has transformed from an autocracy under Chiang into one of Asia’s most vibrant democracies. The changing of the guard each hour at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei is a major tourist attraction, but starting from 9am on Monday, the ceremony is to be moved outdoors to Democracy Boulevard, outside the eponymous blue-and-white memorial
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) supports peaceful unification with China, and President William Lai (賴清德) is “a bit naive” for being a “practical worker for Taiwanese independence,” former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said in an interview published yesterday. Asked about whether the KMT is on the same page as the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) on the issue of Taiwanese independence or unification with China, Ma told the Malaysian Chinese-language newspaper Sin Chew Daily that they are not. While the KMT supports peaceful unification and is against unification by force, the DPP opposes unification as such and
The government would cancel kendo practitioner Su Yu-cheng’s (蘇郁程) nationality if he is confirmed to have represented China in the World Kendo Championships in Milan, Italy, last week, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday. “We have consulted the Sports Administration and were told that athletes participating in the championships must have the nationality of the country that they represent. They must also present their passports as proof,” council spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) told a weekly news conference. “If Su indeed represented China in the championships, we suspect that he has obtained Chinese nationality.” The Act Governing Relations Between the People of the
FATAL ILLNESS: Untreated symptoms can rapidly worsen to complications such as high fever, seizures and loss of consciousness, and can be life-threatening, a doctor said Hospitals have been reporting dozens of people with heat-related illnesses every day over the past week, given continuous high daytime temperatures, so recognizing the early signs of heatstroke is crucial in preventing serious complications, a Taipei City Hospital emergency physician said. The Central Weather Administration yesterday issued a heat alert for 19 cities and counties across Taiwan, with temperatures in New Taipei City, Miaoli County and Pingtung County likely to exceed 38°C, and temperatures in 12 cities and counties likely to exceed 36°C for three days straight. More than a dozen people were taken to hospitals for heat-related illnesses every day from