Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Hung Hsiu-chu’s (洪秀柱) campaign office yesterday said it has taken legal action against media personality Clara Chou (周玉蔻), who recently alleged Hung is planning to withdraw from the election in exchange for “benefits.”
The office said a lawyer has been commissioned to take Chou to court for her “suspected dissemination of falsified rumors and defamation intended to make candidates not elected” that is in violation of the Civil Servants Election And Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法).
According to the office, Chou, talking on a political talk show on Wednesday, said: “Many people have alleged that [Hung has been working on] quid pro quo; I heard something worse, which was that she wanted to exchange [her withdrawal] for a legislator-at-large seat, or even a legislative speaker seat; some even said she wants money.”
Hung’s campaign team said: “The so-called ‘intended exchanges’ are not true, and Chou never asked Hung or the office for verification.”
“Rather, she spread a rumor and is suspected of causing harm to the reputation and image of [Hung] through deliberate fabrication,” it added.
It is the second time that the team has taken Chou to court, the first occasion related to Chou’s accusations in June that Hung’s diploma certificate was forged.
In related news, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday voiced its support for Hung’s decision to file a lawsuit against people who spread lewd pictures online.
“Such acts are intolerable in a civilized society, and it should not happen to anyone,” DPP spokesperson Wang Min-sheng (王閔生) said. “We support the victim in taking legal action to prevent such acts and we strongly condemn such disrespect toward women.”
Wang was responding to remarks made by Hung’s campaign office on Friday that since early June, its Facebook page has been attacked by at least 78 accounts belonging to unidentified people using false names, who have posted lewd pictures and left offensive comments.
Hung’s office also urged DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to control her supporters, saying that it would take legal action against those who committed such offenses.
Wang said that while the Internet has become an important communication tool, such abusive acts are not acceptable.
“Tsai has often fallen victim to malicious attacks on the Internet as well, thus she also would like to call on society not to believe in false and malicious rumors spread on the Internet,” Wang said, citing Tsai. “She hopes society can tackle the issue together.”
Separately yesterday, Tsai said that she welcomed remarks by China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Minister Zhang Zhijun (張志軍) that Beijing would not interfere with Taiwan’s elections.
“I hope Beijing realizes that Taiwan is a democratic society, and it is normal for political parties to rotate in power, with whichever party wins the hearts of the people being in power, and a ruling party with failed governance being voted out,” Tsai said.
“I hope China respects the choice of the people in a democracy, and that Taiwanese are concerned about stable and peaceful development in cross-strait relations,” she added.
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
‘POOP ON STAGE’: The song, which talks about the reluctance to graduate and anxiety about a lack of job opportunities, resonated with many students’ feelings The original song Poop on Stage has been chosen as National Taiwan University’s (NTU) graduation song this year, sparking much debate regarding the song’s title and content, which describes students’ anxiety about post-graduation unemployment. The title, Shang Tai Da Bian (上台大便), is a play on words that literally means “go on stage to poop.” The first three characters, shang tai da (上台大), also mean “to attend NTU,” as “Taida” is a common abbreviation for the university. The last character, bian (便), can mean “convenient” or “then,” but is more commonly associated with defecation. The lyrics of the song describe students’ reluctance to graduate and
RSS