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.”
Taiwan has arranged for about 8 million barrels of crude oil, or about one-third of its monthly needs, to be shipped from the Red Sea this month to bypass the Strait of Hormuz and ease domestic supply pressures, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) said yesterday. The state-run oil company has worked with Middle Eastern suppliers to secure routes other than the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20 percent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas typically passes, CPC chairman Fang Jeng-zen (方振仁) said at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee in Taipei. Suppliers in Saudi Arabia have indicated they
South Korea has adjusted its electronic arrival card system to no longer list Taiwan as a part of China, a move that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said would help facilitate exchanges between the two sides. South Korea previously listed “Taiwan” as “Taiwan (China)” in the drop-down menus of its online arrival card system, where people had to fill out where they came from and their next destination. The ministry had requested South Korea make a revision and said it would change South Korea’s name on Taiwan’s online immigration system from “Republic of Korea” to “Korea (South),” should the issue not be
CCP ‘PAWN’? Beijing could use the KMT chairwoman’s visit to signal to the world that many people in Taiwan support the ‘one China’ principle, an academic said Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday arrived in China for a “peace” mission and potential meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), while a Taiwanese minister detailed the number of Chinese warships currently deployed around the nation. Cheng is visiting at a time of increased Chinese military pressure on Taiwan, as the opposition-dominated Legislative Yuan stalls a government plan for US$40 billion in extra defense spending. Speaking to reporters before going to the airport, Cheng said she was going on a “historic journey for peace,” but added that some people felt uneasy about her trip. “If you truly love Taiwan,
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
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