Ko Demands Public Apology from Ethan Gutmann|葛特曼批騙子 柯陣營要求道歉否則提告

With Election Day approaching, local elections are heating up and the organ transplant issue has once again become the center of controversy, spurred by famous book author Ethan Gutmann, who held a press conference on Oct. 2 and called Taipei City Mayor Ko Wen-je a liar. Ko was extremely insulted and called on Gutmann to issue a public apology. Ko's camp suspects that this was a political move from the pro-independence camp.


(So you think that Dr. Ko is a liar?) Yes.

With a simple "yes," Ethan Gutmann added fuel to the fire of the organ transplant controversy surrounding Taipei City Mayor Ko Wen-je. This deeply incensed Ko, who demanded a public apology from Gutmann within 24 hours. Ko said if he did not get an apology, he would sue. During a public appearance the next morning, Ko reiterated that he has never acted as an "organ broker" by taking patients to China for organ transplants. He also said while there is offense and defense in elections, such low blows are wholly unnecessary.

(Him calling me) a liar is slander. From the Yuchang MG149 case to this, (they are showing they aren't above) creating social chaos to win an election. This is deplorable. There is offense and defense in elections, but no need to stoop so low.

Ko's anger over the smear campaign was palpable. His camp, meanwhile, raised the issue of the heavy pro-independence presence at Gutmann's press conference and questioned whether the questions were politically motivated and had been arranged ahead of time.

There is garbage on both the pan-blue and pan-green sides. Truly.

Ko also pointed out that ECMO is not used in living-donor transplants and the average person would of course not be able to understand. He also said the accusations would not be able to stand up to medical scrutiny. In response to the many accusations Gutmann leveled at Ko, Ko's opponent in the Taipei City race, Pasuya Yao, said Taipei's international reputation would suffer if clarifications aren't made.

Ko Wen-je is the mayor of Taiwan's capital city. I hope they can explain. If they don't, it would affect Taipei's international reputation.

Yao declined to comment on whether this is a smear campaign against Ko and how will the accusations affect the outcome of the election.