bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Visit to allies next month puts distance between leader and scheduled rallies

Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian will visit the island's allies in the South Pacific next month rather than stay in Taipei to face further humiliating calls for his resignation.

'I will lead a delegation to attend the first leaders' summit of [Taiwan] and its South Pacific allies in Palau in early September,' the Presidential Office quoted Mr Chen as saying during a meeting with visiting Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare at his office in Taipei.

Mr Chen is under investigation over alleged embezzlement of state funds.

Diplomatic sources said the leader might also visit Nauru, which re-established diplomatic ties with Taiwan earlier this year. He might also have transit stops in Guam and Fiji, which recognise Beijing instead of Taipei.

The visit would coincide with planned protests to be staged by two anti-Chen groups, including one led by former Democratic Progressive Party chairman Shih Ming-teh,  in front of the Presidential Office.

The visit was announced as Ligi Lee Hui-fen, a Taiwanese businesswoman now living in Australia, testified as a witness in Taipei against Mr Chen over his alleged embezzlement of state funds.

Ms Lee, dubbed by the local media as the woman who could bring down the president, returned to Taipei late on Sunday with two suitcases of what she claims to be proof of President Chen's alleged wrongdoing.

Cable news network TVBS said Ms Lee was questioned by prosecutor Chen Jui-jen and other investigators about copies of receipts that could prove Mr Chen falsified spending claims involving state funds.

Initial investigations by the Ministry of Audit have revealed alleged irregularities in the way Mr Chen spent NT$36 million (HK$8.56 million) of  NT$50 million in state funds allocated to him for national affairs. The ministry later referred the case to prosecution authorities after finding that some of the receipts used to support the claims could have been falsified.

Ms Lee said she had provided some of those receipts to the president's, wife Wu Shu-chen, who allegedly gave the receipts to Mr Chen's office to claim the funds, TVBS reported.

She said her cousin, Lee Pi-chun, also a businesswoman with close ties to Ms Wu, asked her for the receipts so that she could give them to the president's wife. She said the amount added up to more than NT$10 million. She said she was willing to take a lie-detector test and testify with her cousin if  necessary.

The Presidential Office has denied any wrongdoing involving the president, but said it would respect any decision from the judiciary if it needed Mr Chen to testify.

Meanwhile, Mr Shih said his  campaign to depose Mr Chen had received generous support from the island's residents with more than 20,000 endorsing his plan and donating more than NT$9 million, just three days after he announced the island-wide campaign to bring down the president.

In a news conference at his office yesterday, Mr Shih said he was optimistic he would soon attain the target of getting 1 million Taiwanese to join the campaign. But his campaign committee will have to co-ordinate with another anti-Chen group over a planned massive sit-in protest in front of the Presidential Office on September 9 and 10.

The committee has obtained the right to use the roads in Taipei from August 23 to September 14 for protest marches in the city, but the Democratic Action Alliance has already applied to stage a demonstration in front of the Presidential Office on September 9 and 10 to demand Mr Chen's resignation.

Mr Chen - who yesterday marked the first anniversary of the Democratic Pacific Union, another of the island's diplomatic initiatives - has come under increasing pressure to quit over graft allegations tied to his family and government.



Chen plans Pacific tour as demands to quit build