DPP lawmaker slaps KMT colleague
TAIPEI, Taiwan -- A woman lawmaker from the main opposition slapped a ruling party colleague in the face following a quarrel yesterday. Chiu Yi-ying said she slapped Lee Ching-hua on the face for what she call an insult to her parents. Lee, of the Kuomintang (KMT), later filed a lawsuit accusing his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) colleague of injury and public insult.
The fracas occurred during a legislative interior committee meeting when Lee's speech was interrupted by Chiu's protest.
Lee reprimanded Chiu, saying she needed to show that she had a "good family education." Chiu took the remark as an insult to her parents, as it implied that her parents failed to teach her properly. More verbal blows were traded and in the heat of the quarrel, Chiu slapped Lee.
Government officials were supposed to report to lawmakers on the progress of the upcoming meeting between top envoys from Taiwan and China in the Chinese city of Nanjing. The legislative meeting ended without hearing the report because of the row between Chiu and Lee.
Chiu and her DPP colleagues later called a press conference, demanding Lee apologize for the remark.
"Lee Ching-hua is not in a position to insult my parents," said Chiu. "If he refuses to apologize, I'll keep slapping him."
She denied that it was an act of violence. Instead, she said she was getting even on behalf of all women.
She vowed to sue Lee over the remark.
DPP legislative leader Ker Chien-ming said the KMT has been resorting to different forms of violence,abuse of parliamentary dominance, verbal attacks, judicial manipulation and police forces -- since wresting back rule from the DPP last year.
"This is the biggest danger in Taiwan," said Ker, referring to what he called the KMT violence.
Lee said Chiu did not just hit him, but also his aides during the meeting. He said he did not fight back because of the principle that "men don't beat women."
He said Chiu was setting a very bad example in a society where violence was already a serious problem, citing two child deaths in two recent domestic violence cases.
"I am suing Chiu Yi-ying not for myself, but in order to prevent the dissemination of violence," the KMT lawmaker said.
Asked to comment on Chiu's vow to take legal action against him, Lee said the entire drama at the meeting was videotaped, and the DPP legislator would not be able to distort the fact.
