The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday vowed to take a hard-line approach against political or media commentators whose words or actions were deemed harmful to the party's reputation.
KMT Secretary-General Wu Den-yi (吳敦義) made the remarks yesterday in response to media reports on a legal case involving the party's controversial sales of its three media assets in 2005.
The KMT on Dec. 24, 2005 sold China Television Co (CTV, 中視), the Broadcasting Corporation of China (BCC) and the Central Motion Pictures Corp (CMPC, 中影) to the China Times Group -- one day before the deadline set by the government for political and military groups to divest their media holdings.
Chang Che-chen (
Adding this amount in, the China Times Group paid a total of NT$9.3 billion to the KMT for the companies, he said.
However, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Yu Shyi-kun filed a lawsuit last November accusing the KMT of breach of trust and misappropriation for selling the three companies -- with an estimated worth of NT$15.2 billion (US$456 million) -- to Jung-li under the China Times Group for just NT$4 billion.
The Supreme Prosecutors' Office said on Wednesday that it was looking into the case and would be calling witnesses to testify on the case soon.
Wu rebutted the accusations yesterday.
"Sure, the three companies had a total value of $15.2 billion; however, they also had a total debt of NT$11.2 billion," Wu said.
"When you deduct the debts from the total value, you get NT$4 billion." he said.
Wu added that the boards of directors of the companies decided on the sales independently.
"The KMT was a stockholder; however, the boards of directors of the companies decided on the sales themselves ... neither the party, nor former [KMT] chairman Ma Ying-jeou were involved," he said.
Wu also vowed to take legal actions against individuals whose statements might harm the party' s reputation.
"Media or political commentators should make statements based on facts ... otherwise, they have to bear legal responsibility [for their actions]," Wu warned.
Wu added that the KMT had already filed lawsuits against Yu and DPP legislators Yu Jan-daw (余政道) and Kao Chien-chih (高建智), charging them with slander.
Theaters and institutions in Taiwan have received 28 threatening e-mails, including bomb threats, since a documentary critical of China began being screened across the nation last month, the National Security Bureau said yesterday. The actions are part of China’s attempts to undermine Taiwan’s sovereignty, it said. State Organs (國有器官) documents allegations that Chinese government officials engage in organ harvesting and other illegal activities. From last month to Friday last week, 28 incidents have been reported of theaters or institutions receiving threats, including bomb and shooting threats, if they did not stop showing the documentary, the bureau said. Although the threats were not carried out,
HEALTHCARE: Following a 2022 Constitutional Court ruling, Taiwanese traveling overseas for six months would no longer be able to suspend their insurance Measures allowing people to suspend National Health Insurance (NHI) services if they plan to leave the country for six months would be abolished starting Dec. 23, NHIA Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said yesterday. The decision followed the Constitutional Court’s ruling in 2022 that the regulation was unconstitutional and that it would invalidate the regulation automatically unless the NHIA amended it to conform with the Constitution. The agency would amend the regulations to remove the articles and sections that allow the suspension of NHI services, and also introduce provisional clauses for those who suspended their NHI services before Dec. 23, Shih said. According to
‘GRAY ZONE’ TACTICS: China continues to build up its military capacity while regularly deploying jets and warships around Taiwan, with the latest balloon spotted on Sunday The US is drawing up contingency plans for military deployments in Japan and the Philippines in case of a Taiwan emergency, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported. They would be incorporated in a first joint operation plan to be formulated in December, Kyodo reported late on Sunday, citing sources familiar with Japan-US relations. A US Marine Corps regiment that possesses High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems — a light multiple rocket launcher — would be deployed along the Nansei Island chain stretching from Kyushu to Yonaguni near Taiwan, Kyodo said. According to US military guidelines for dispatching marines in small formations to several locations,
As Taiwan celebrated its baseball team’s victory in the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s Premier12 on Sunday, how politicians referred to the team in their congratulatory messages reflected the nation’s political divide. Taiwan, competing under the name Chinese Taipei (中華台北隊), made history with its first-ever Premier12 championship after beating Japan 4-0 at the Tokyo Dome. Right after the game, President William Lai (賴清德) congratulated the team via a post on his Facebook page. Besides the players, Lai also lauded the team’s coaching and medical staff, and the fans cheering for them in Tokyo or watching the live broadcast, saying that “every
RSS