The Taipei District Court yesterday began hearings in a case involving former vice president Lien Chan’s (連戰) daughter, Lien Hui-hsin (連惠心), who allegedly publicly insulted a Next Magazine reporter in 2013.
Lien Hui-hsin was indicted for insulting the reporter, surnamed Lee (李), by calling her a “psycho” when Lee attempted to ask Lien Hui-hsin a question about her involvement with a nutritional supplement company whose weight-loss pills were found to contain unauthorized drugs.
Lien Hui-hsin said that the case was a “misunderstanding” and alleged that Next Magazine, in an attempt to force her to settle out of court, had sent her a letter of attestation she felt was threatening.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said Lien Hui-hsin appeared at the prosecutors’ office in October 2013 as part of an investigation into the Wellslim pills case and was intercepted by Lee as she was visiting the restroom during a break in the questioning.
Lee asked a question about materials printed in the magazine, but Lien allegedly muttered to herself: “What are you talking about?” and “Psycho” before walking back into the room, the office said.
Lien Hui-hsin yesterday told the court that the incident was all a misunderstanding, that she did not know Lee and had not even seen her that night.
Even if she said the word “psycho,” it was in reference to the case during a discussion with her lawyer, and not aimed at Lee personally, Lien Hui-hsin said.
Lien Hui-hsin said Next Magazine had sent letters of attestation for trumped-up charges, saying that if the Lien family did not settle out of court they would “take action” against her then-six-month-old nephew.
Lien Hui-hsin’s lawyer said that the magazine’s offer for an out-of-court settlement was NT$500,000 in reparations, as well the invalidating of an 2006 agreement — in which the magazine agreed to confirm facts with the Liens before reporting anything regarding the family.
Two reporters, surnamed Lu (呂) and Lai (賴), testified in court, but the court considered the claims tainted as both are employees of the Next Media group.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it is fully aware of the situation following reports that the son of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai (薄熙來) has arrived in Taiwan and is to marry a Taiwanese. Local media reported that Bo Guagua (薄瓜瓜), son of the former member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is to marry the granddaughter of Luodong Poh-Ai Hospital founder Hsu Wen-cheng (許文政). The pair met when studying abroad and arranged to get married this year, with the wedding breakfast to be held at The One holiday resort in Hsinchu
The Taipei Zoo on Saturday said it would pursue legal action against a man who was filmed climbing over a railing to tease and feed spotted hyenas in their enclosure earlier that day. In videos uploaded to social media on Saturday, a man can be seen climbing over a protective railing and approaching a ledge above the zoo’s spotted hyena enclosure, before dropping unidentified objects down to two of the animals. The Taipei Zoo in a statement said the man’s actions were “extremely inappropriate and even illegal.” In addition to monitoring the hyenas’ health, the zoo would collect evidence provided by the public
A decision to describe a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Singapore’s Taiwan policy as “erroneous” was made because the city-state has its own “one China policy” and has not followed Beijing’s “one China principle,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said yesterday. It has been a longstanding practice for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to speak on other countries’ behalf concerning Taiwan, Tien said. The latest example was a statement issued by the PRC after a meeting between Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines of the APEC summit
A road safety advocacy group yesterday called for reforms to the driver licensing and retraining system after a pedestrian was killed and 15 other people were injured in a two-bus collision in Taipei. “Taiwan’s driver’s licenses are among the easiest to obtain in the world, and there is no mandatory retraining system for drivers,” Taiwan Vision Zero Alliance, a group pushing to reduce pedestrian fatalities, said in a news release. Under the regulations, people who have held a standard car driver’s license for two years and have completed a driver training course are eligible to take a test