Formosa Foundation Responds to Chiu Yi

Over the last few years legislator Chiu Yi of the KMT has been making all sorts of allegations about the Chen family and the DPP and associated organizations, the vast majority of which have turned out to be false (Chiu Yi is described in detail in this great post on Wandering to Tamshui). Chiu Yi routinely gets sued and just as routinely loses (see here the most recent example). As the self-appointed attack dog of the KMT, Chiu Yi has been out and about hacking on Green institutions, one of which is the Formosa Foundation, a foundation dedicated to the advancement of human rights, democracy, and self-determination for Taiwan. He claimed that Chen Shui-bian had laundered money through the foundation. This morning Terri Giles, the Executive Director, was kind enough to provide me with the Foundation's response:

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Political Lies Masquerading as Truth
Convicted Slanderer Chiu Yi is Back in Business

It seems the muckraking tradition is alive and well in Taiwan. Taiwan legislator Chiu Yi of the KMT recently held a press conference in Taiwan where he wrongly accused the Formosa Foundation and its honorary chairman Li Pei Wu of being involved in alleged money laundering of which former president Chen Shui-bian and his family have been accused. This claim is completely untrue and an absolute fabrication by Chiu.

In a desperate act to vilify the Formosa Foundation, and the important work that the organization has done promoting Taiwan's democracy, Chui has created a false controversy. It is a matter of public record that this legislator has previously been sued for, and found guilty of, slander. In fact, Chiu has served jail time as a result of his slanderous comments and has a history of making unfounded allegations smearing innocent people and organizations. Now he has targeted the Formosa Foundation for his unfounded and outrageous allegations in an effort to promote his political agenda while we are forced to defend our reputation from these baseless attacks. Chiu's behavior should be unacceptable to all Taiwanese and Americans.

We urge Chinese - language and English - language media to check facts before reporting any of Chiu's allegations as truth. The Formosa Foundation, a Los Angeles based non-profit organization, has spent years working to educate the American public about the importance of supporting Taiwan's democracy. The organization has a hard won and well deserved reputation as an honest and effective advocate. Each year the Formosa Foundation trains students to become activists for democracy.

The Foundation has made a tremendous difference in the way Congress and the American public view Taiwan and should be supported rather than the victim of vicious lies.

Democracy, the old American saying goes, is a contact sport. You expect vigorous give-and-take, and you allow for a certain amount of rhetorical spin. But blatant lies and smears are an attempt to undermine democracy. No one should tolerate politics based on fabricating allegations with complete disregard for the truth. The Formosa Foundation demands that Chiu halt his slanderous comments and call upon the media to act responsibly in publishing such falsehoods.

Terri Giles, Executive Director
Formosa Foundation

Based in Los Angeles, CA, the Formosa Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting greater understanding of the relationship between Taiwan and the United States, and preserving and enhancing democracy, human rights and freedom for the people of Taiwan.

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The Formosa Foundation is a important non-profit organization that has done great work on behalf of Taiwan. If you have a few spare pennies drop them in their donations box....

[Taiwan]

Chiu Yi Loses Final Appeal

KMT legislator Chiu Yi, another one of Taiwan's grandstanding politicians, has lost his final appeal in the Supreme Court.

Kaohsiung prosecutors indicted Chiu and originally sought a 30-month jail sentence on charges of public disturbance for leading a group of people and hopping on a pickup truck on March 19, 2004, then attempting to ram it into the Kaohsiung District Court.

Chiu Yi claimed it was all about politics, since he has been "exposing" DPP corruption -- actually, mostly making unfounded accusations, free of evidence. Perhaps the eight policemen Chiu Yi injured might feel differently about the accusation that it is all politics. Wandering to Tamshui listed some of his escapades:

During the pan-Blue protests following their election upset, Chiu kept himself busy on election night by instigating pan-Blue rioters to ram a truck into the Kaohsiung District Court on March 20. Chiu defended himself against the charges, saying "The prosecutors decided to indict me before they had really talked to any witnesses. People who were there with me all knew that I didn't do whatever it was they said I did." Prosecutors, however, had evidence suggesting otherwise, including a video clearly showing Chiu's misbehavior, and charged him with violating the Parade and Assembly Law.

Chiu has made a name for himself by suing others for reportedly secretly filming him sex up his old lady, slamming the pan-blue alliance's legal team for its handling of the post-election lawsuits, suing DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun for defamation, and publicly fighting with ex-Premier Frank Hsieh over whether Hsieh had called First Lady Wu Shu-chen "an empress" over the phone. Most recently, Chiu has made headlines for ditching the PFP to return to the KMT (purportedly to buy win more votes in the year-end mayoral election), and just last night was arrested following an appearance on a popular talk show for failing to show up in court to face charges related to his performance on election night 2004.

[Taiwan]