Former deputy minister of national defense Michael Tsai (蔡明憲) yesterday filed a defamation suit against Pei Wei (裴偉), editor-in-chief of the Chinese-language Next Magazine and two others people after the magazine accused Tsai of selling military promotions.
The magazine ran a story accusing Tsai of taking bribes in exchange for promoting 10 lieutenant generals and major generals last year.
key player
The magazine singled him out as the key player in a recent string of corruption allegations involving the ministry.
Prosecutors have listed Tsai and several senior military officials accused of buying their positions as suspects in the case.
Tsai said he had been wrongly accused and denied selling military positions.
FALSE
“The Next Magazine report is completely false,” he said. “When I was in office, I had never heard of any rumors of selling or buying positions. I am in favor of cracking down on or investigating alleged corruption.”
He said all the officers he promoted had been approved by the personnel department and that all personnel changes had been agreed upon by the former or current president.
Prosecutors earlier this month indicted former lieutenant general Yuan Hsiao-lung (袁肖龍) and 11 businessmen on charges of bribery and blackmail in a scandal in which several high-ranking officers were accused of securing promotions by offering bribes.SCANDAL
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) have both denied any involvement in the alleged cash-for-promotions scandal.
Next Magazine is well-known for its aggressive reporters and bold reporting style, which has embroiled it in a number of controversies.
Several Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) officials including Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) are to be summoned for questioning and then transferred to prosecutors for holding an illegal assembly in Taipei last night, the Taipei Police said today. Chu and two others hosted an illegal assembly and are to be requested to explain their actions, the Taipei City Police Department's Zhongzheng (中正) First Precinct said, referring to a protest held after Huang Lu Chin-ju (黃呂錦茹), KMT Taipei's chapter director, and several other KMT staffers were questioned for alleged signature forgery in recall petitions against Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators. Taipei prosecutors had filed
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
NEW WORLD: Taiwan is pursuing innovative approaches to international relations through economics, trade and values-based diplomacy, the foreign minister said Taiwan would implement a “three-chain strategy” that promotes democratic values in response to US tariffs, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said. Taiwan would aim to create a “global democratic value chain,” seek to capitalize on its position within the first island chain and promote a “non-red supply chain,” Lin was quoted as saying in the ministry’s written report to the Legislative Yuan submitted ahead of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee meeting slated for today. The Ministry would also uphold a spirit of mutual beneficial collaboration, maintaining close communication and consultations with Washington to show that Taiwan-US cooperation
RSS