Entertainer Eric Suen (孫耀威) was in court on Monday for a damage compensation lawsuit against the Breeze Center shopping mall, over his investment in a nightclub, which was demolished just one day after its opening in November last year.
Suen invested NT$35 million (US$1.18 million) to open the CA Club Cafe, located in the Breeze Center, aiming to make it a leading nightspot in Taipei.
However, just one day after its opening, the club was ordered to close down, allegedly on orders from the Taipei City Construction Management Office.
The singer is suing for NT$24 million in damages, in an attempt to recoup some of his investment.
“This is the first time I have been in court for a lawsuit. I was cheated by the Breeze Center and I am standing up to seek justice,” he said on Monday.
Suen said he had signed a contract with Breeze Center to open a restaurant, but they did not give him complete information about the regulations.
Officials from Taipei cited the club as an illegal structure which did not have an operating license, which led to the Breeze Center terminating its contract with Suen.
Suen insisted his nightclub was legal, and the Taipei City Government did not order it to be closed, while the termination of the contract by the Breeze Center was the main reason for him losing a NT$35 million investment.
The presiding judge has requested that the Taipei City Government clarify its position, and if it had classified Suen’s premises as a restaurant or a nightclub. The trial’s is to continue on Oct. 13.
Suen said at the time he opened the nightclub: “I want to introduce in vogue fashion trends of the US and Europe to Taiwan.”
At the club’s gala opening last year, he arrived in a red Ferrari Coupe, and the event attracted celebrities and a large crowd of fans, with extensive media coverage.
However, the dramatic turn of events the next day saw Suen’s investment go up in smoke, when it was reportedly declared an illegal structure and subsequently torn down.
Former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) mention of Taiwan’s official name during a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on Wednesday was likely a deliberate political play, academics said. “As I see it, it was intentional,” National Chengchi University Graduate Institute of East Asian Studies professor Wang Hsin-hsien (王信賢) said of Ma’s initial use of the “Republic of China” (ROC) to refer to the wider concept of “the Chinese nation.” Ma quickly corrected himself, and his office later described his use of the two similar-sounding yet politically distinct terms as “purely a gaffe.” Given Ma was reading from a script, the supposed slipup
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