By Chris Wang / Staff Reporter
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) will take a series of legal measures against false and vicious allegations concerning DPP Chairperson and presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Tsai’s campaign spokesman Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) said yesterday.
Taiwan People Power News (TPPN, 台灣公論報) on Monday questioned Tsai’s relationship with an aide in a story titled “Unveiling the secret of Tsai Ing-wen’s sexual orientation.”
TPPN was founded in 1947 as an anti-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) newspaper and was re-launched in 2006 by its current publisher Wu Hsiao-tien (巫曉天), who is married to Hou Hui-hsien (侯惠仙), a member of the KMT Central Committee.
In addition, TPPN president and chief editorial writer Wang Tu-hsueh (王篤學), is the younger brother of Taiwanese entrepreneur Wang You-theng (王又曾), a former member of the KMT Central Standing Committee who fled to the US after being charged with money-laundering.
The publication’s political position has been clear since its relaunch with its staunch criticism of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and the DPP, Hsu said.
While any presidential candidate should be thoroughly examined, the media is advised to focus on public issues, she said.
Meanwhile, DPP legislator-at-large candidate Wu Ping-jui (吳秉叡) yesterday filed a lawsuit against DPP member Tsai You-chuan (蔡有全), reporter Wu Tsu-chia (吳子嘉), political commentator Liu Yi-hung (劉益宏) and political talk show host Chang Chi-kai (張啟楷) on charges of defamation.
In a story written by Wu Tsu-chia and published on the Internet, Tsai accused Wu Ping-jui of having extramarital relationships and the story was mentioned by Liu and Chang on a talk show.
“If anyone has evidence to prove [the allegation] is true, I will commit seppuku to kill myself,” Wu Ping-jui said.