National Science Council Minister Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) will seek compensation of NT$100 million (US$3 million) from the Chinese-language China Times for not publishing a correction and an apology for an editorial it published last week which contained what he said were untruthful allegations against him.
The newspaper's editorial published last Friday referred to a thesis written by a doctor at the National Taiwan University Hospital, of which Chen was listed as a co-author.
The author was caught copying statements from other theses in the preface section when he submitted his research to the medical journal Cancer.
The editorial said that the "NSC chairman was also a perpetrator of this plagiarizing incident. While the council's ethics committee had taken harsh measures in other similar cases, it dared not do anything when its own chairman was involved."
Chen held a press conference yesterday and said that he has written an official letter to the China Times requesting it correct these false statements.
Chen said the paper promised to print the letter he wrote without any editorial changes.
Chen said the paper eventually published the letter last Saturday and placed it on page 6. He said they also deleted some statements that he deemed crucial. He said that this was unacceptable.
Chen said that the scathing editorial might do damage to his career as well as to his reputation. He said, however, that he is willing to settle the lawsuit if the newspaper prints a correction and an apology.
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) yesterday appealed to the authorities to release former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) from pretrial detention amid conflicting reports about his health. The TPP at a news conference on Thursday said that Ko should be released to a hospital for treatment, adding that he has blood in his urine and had spells of pain and nausea followed by vomiting over the past three months. Hsieh Yen-yau (謝炎堯), a retired professor of internal medicine and Ko’s former teacher, said that Ko’s symptoms aligned with gallstones, kidney inflammation and potentially dangerous heart conditions. Ko, charged with
Taiwan-based publisher Li Yanhe (李延賀) has been sentenced to three years in prison, fined 50,000 yuan (US$6,890) in personal assets and deprived political rights for one year for “inciting secession” in China, China's Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Chen Binhua (陳斌華) said today. The Shanghai First Intermediate People’s Court announced the verdict on Feb. 17, Chen said. The trial was conducted lawfully, and in an open and fair manner, he said, adding that the verdict has since come into legal effect. The defendant reportedly admitted guilt and would appeal within the statutory appeal period, he said, adding that the defendant and his family have
RSS