Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) filed an appeal with the High Court yesterday after a district court cleared the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of libel for allegedly labeling him a supporter of China.
"The judge made a wrong decision, and I decided to take the case to the High Court," Ma told a press conference yesterday. "I will ask for NT$1 million in compensation in order to pay my lawyers' fees."
In October 2003, the DPP made and broadcast a TV ad promoting a calling for a new constitution through the referendum process. The ad used montages of several people holding China's five-star flag with Ma holding a Republic of China (ROC) flag during a national day celebration. A close-up of Ma's face was shown as a veteran called out "Long life Hu Jintao (胡錦濤)."
Ma believed the DPP had libeled him as "red" and "China's man." He filed a lawsuit at the Taipei District Court, asking for NT$1 in symbolic compensation.
Judge Wu Ching-jen (
"The public would not make the mistake of thinking Ma was handling China's flag or calling out `Long life Hu Jintao,' therefore the DPP did not damage Ma's reputation in the ad," Wu said in her ruling.
She said the ad's content fell within the boundary of free speech.
A angry Ma yesterday criticized the judgment as flawed.
"The DPP viciously mixed different montages to paint me red in that ad, and broadcast it 240 times on TV, but the judge said it was legal. Where is justice?" he said.
However, he said he would withdraw his appeal if the DPP apologized.
Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦), director of the DPP's Information and Culture Department, said yesterday that the aim of the was to highlight China's oppression of Taiwan, and there was no intent to defame Ma.
Cheng said the judge had made the right decision and the DPP hoped Ma could forget the past and face the future.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
Credit departments of farmers’ and fishers’ associations blocked a total of more than NT$180 million (US$6.01 million) from being lost to scams last year, National Police Agency (NPA) data showed. The Agricultural Finance Agency (AFA) said last week that staff of farmers’ and fishers’ associations’ credit departments are required to implement fraud prevention measures when they serve clients at the counter. They would ask clients about personal financial management activities whenever they suspect there might be a fraud situation, and would immediately report the incident to local authorities, which would send police officers to the site to help, it said. NPA data showed
ENERGY RESILIENCE: Although Alaska is open for investments, Taiwan is sourcing its gas from the Middle East, and the sea routes carry risks, Ho Cheng-hui said US government officials’ high-profile reception of a Taiwanese representative at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference indicated the emergence of an Indo-Pacific energy resilience alliance, an academic said. Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安) attended the conference in Alaska on Thursday last week at the invitation of the US government. Pan visited oil and gas facilities with senior US officials, including US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy and US Senator Daniel Sullivan. Pan attending the conference on behalf of President William Lai (賴清德) shows a significant elevation in diplomatic representation,
The Taipei MRT is to begin accepting mobile payment services in the fall, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said on Saturday. When the company finishes the installation of new payment units at ticketing gates in October, MRT passengers can use credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay, the operator said. In addition, the MRT would also provide QR payment codes — which would be compatible with Line Pay, Jkopay, iPass Money, PXPay Plus, EasyWallet, iCash Pay, Taiwan Pay and Taishin Pay — to access the railway system. Currently, passengers can access the Taipei MRT by buying a single-journey token or using EasyCard,
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