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Dispute deepens between Taiwan ruling party, maverick candidate TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) - Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui harshly criticized a top presidential candidate Wednesday, calling him a ``lying thief'' and a ``shameless person.''
The verbal attack followed a news conference late Tuesday night held by independent candidate James Soong, who said the president ordered him to deposit money from a ruling Nationalist Party slush fund into relatives' accounts.
Soong called the news conference to defend himself from charges that up to $22.5 million from Nationalist coffers were mishandled.
The candidate said much of the money was private donations, and that Lee, who is retiring after the March election, wanted him to handle the funds in the early 1990s.
Soong said he deposited the funds into the accounts of his son, an aide, his sister-in-law and her son because ``they were reliable, safe and could help keep the accounts secret to avoid unnecessary puzzlements.''
But on Wednesday, Lee said he did not order Soong to put the money in the accounts. The president said Soong was ``a thief and a lying thief,'' Nationalist spokesman Huang Hwei-chen quoted Lee as saying.
``How can a shameless person act as a public figure or be a presidential candidate?'' Huang said.
Soong, a former top Nationalist official, was expelled by the party last month for running against its official candidate, Vice President Lien Chan.
Until a Nationalist lawmaker this month accused Soong of embezzling the funds in the early 1990s, the candidate had a comfortable lead in the polls ahead of the March election.
Now, many surveys show him even with the other two main contenders: Lien and Chen Shui-bian of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party.
Copyright 1999 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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