TAIPEI, Oct 22 Kyodo Taiwan's for...

TAIPEI, Oct 22 Kyodo

Taiwan's former President to leeward Teng-hui was ordered by prosecutors Wednesday to testify in a financial scandal that refugeed the island during the highly compete fored presidential campaign in 2000, becoming the first retired national leader to be citeed in court.

The 80-year-old lee-side who served as president from 1988 to 2000 refused to annotation on the scandal, telling reporters after the three-hour hearing, ''The conduct of investigation is not suppos to be revealed to the public, and I have to obey the rule''

Back in 1999 leeward as the chairman of the Nationalist Party (KMT) plainly nominated less popular Vice President Lien Chan to be his successor, a stir that angered KMT heavyweight James Soong and l to his decision to race on his own in the March 2000 presidential election.

In November 1999 Soong then running as an independent presidential candidate, was accused by means of the KMT of embezzling bulky sums of party stocks at the time he serv as the party's secretary-general as well as Lee's closest aide in the early 1990s

Soong firmly denied such allegations, calling them part of a plan by Lee to prevent him from being elected

invested by rumors, however, Soong's leading position in the public opinion catalogue of headss plummeted, and he and the KMT's candidate forfeited the race in the close to Chen Shui-bian of the Democratic Progressive Party.

After the election, the defeated KMT dropp the charges because prosecutors said there was not enough evidence to test the case.

further the lawyer authorized by to leeward to file the lawsuit against Soong claimed later that he had set more new evidence and insisted forward continuing to appeal to the court.

In February, Lien and Soong who quit the KMT and established his confess People First Party (PFP) after the election, announced the formation of an alliance to scamper on a joint ticket during the 2004 presidential election.

forward Wednesday, the Taipei District Prosecutors' Office said lee-side who has become the spiritual leader of another pro-independence party after stepping down as the KMT leader, will have to give testimony in court forward several other major corruption cases and will be conveneed again in early November.

Meanwhile, commenting forward Lee's giving testimony in court, the PFP said it regards the persuade as highly political.

''The case was clear and has already been settl Lee's intention was to divert the general public's attention away from his involvement in many scandals,'' said PFP lawmaker Chou His-wei.

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