The Democratic Progressive Party and former party spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) yesterday lost an appeal in a defamation lawsuit brought by former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), with the Taiwan High Court ordering them to pay Ma compensation totaling NT$1.2 million (US$39,643).
The sum was greater than that ordered in the first ruling in 2015, when Taipei District Court judges ordered Liang and the party to pay Ma NT$300,000 in compensation, but were not required to issue a public apology in newspapers as Ma had demanded.
In 2011, Liang, then spokesman of the party, said on a TV talk show that Ma had solicited illegal political donations totaling NT$300 million during a meeting with Chen Ying-chu (陳盈助), who allegedly operated underground gambling pools and had ties to businesses run by gangsters.
Photo: Courtesy of Hit FM
Liang at the time said he was citing information published in a report by the Chinese-language Next Magazine, as well as recordings made by the journalist who conducted interviews for the report, which Liang said he had obtained.
Ma filed the defamation suit seeking NT$2 million in compensation and demanding that a public apology be printed in local newspapers.
In yesterday’s ruling, the Taiwan High Court said that Liang had not verified the information by reasonable means, and that he had no evidence to corroborate his remarks, which resulted in a negative public perception of Ma and damage to his reputation.
“It is disappointing to hear this ruling. I do not understand what the judges would constitute as verifying information by reasonable means,” Liang said after the verdict. “My remarks had real basis... Different judges will give widely different rulings, so I regret this verdict.”
The combined effect of the monsoon, the outer rim of Typhoon Fengshen and a low-pressure system is expected to bring significant rainfall this week to various parts of the nation, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The heaviest rain is expected to occur today and tomorrow, with torrential rain expected in Keelung’s north coast, Yilan and the mountainous regions of Taipei and New Taipei City, the CWA said. Rivers could rise rapidly, and residents should stay away from riverbanks and avoid going to the mountains or engaging in water activities, it said. Scattered showers are expected today in central and
COOPERATION: Taiwan is aligning closely with US strategic objectives on various matters, including China’s rare earths restrictions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan could deal with China’s tightened export controls on rare earth metals by turning to “urban mining,” a researcher said yesterday. Rare earth metals, which are used in semiconductors and other electronic components, could be recovered from industrial or electronic waste to reduce reliance on imports, National Cheng Kung University Department of Resources Engineering professor Lee Cheng-han (李政翰) said. Despite their name, rare earth elements are not actually rare — their abundance in the Earth’s crust is relatively high, but they are dispersed, making extraction and refining energy-intensive and environmentally damaging, he said, adding that many countries have opted to
People can preregister to receive their NT$10,000 (US$325) cash distributed from the central government on Nov. 5 after President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday signed the Special Budget for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience, the Executive Yuan told a news conference last night. The special budget, passed by the Legislative Yuan on Friday last week with a cash handout budget of NT$236 billion, was officially submitted to the Executive Yuan and the Presidential Office yesterday afternoon. People can register through the official Web site at https://10000.gov.tw to have the funds deposited into their bank accounts, withdraw the funds at automated teller
CONCESSION: A Shin Kong official said that the firm was ‘willing to contribute’ to the nation, as the move would enable Nvidia Crop to build its headquarters in Taiwan Shin Kong Life Insurance Co (新光人壽) yesterday said it would relinquish land-use rights, or known as surface rights, for two plots in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投), paving the way for Nvidia Corp to expand its office footprint in Taiwan. The insurer said it made the decision “in the interest of the nation’s greater good” and would not seek compensation from taxpayers for potential future losses, calling the move a gesture to resolve a months-long impasse among the insurer, the Taipei City Government and the US chip giant. “The decision was made on the condition that the Taipei City Government reimburses the related
RSS