The Taiwan High Court yesterday ruled against former National Security Council secretary-general King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) in a libel suit he filed against award-winning screenwriter and author Neil Peng (馮光遠) in connection with comments the author made about the nature of King’s relationship with President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).
The High Court ruled that, in the context of Peng’s Facebook comments, the “special relationship” that Peng described between King and Ma was not centered on their sexual orientation, but their personal relationship, which Peng said had led to King’s appointment to several government positions.
Peng’s comments thereby did not constitute libel, the court said.
The Taipei District Court made a similar ruling in August last year.
Meanwhile, the High Court ruled that words like “idiot,” “bitch” and “asshole” in Peng’s Facebook posts, though mean-spirited, were not “empty slander,” but commentaries directed at specific incidents and therefore did not constitute public insults against King.
In a Facebook message posted in 2012, Peng insinuated that King’s “Brokeback” relationship with Ma had helped him secure government posts without having any background in the fields, referring to Ang Lee’s (李安) movie about a homosexual love story, Brokeback Mountain.
The ruling marked King’s eighth loss out of nine suits he has filed since 1997, with one suit against People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) withdrawn in 2011.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday briefed her party’s Central Standing Committee regarding her scheduled visit to the US between Monday next week and June 16, saying that her purpose would be to persuade the US that the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution was a “one China” constitution that would foster stable and peaceful cross-strait relations. The ROC Constitution is the most important defense for all Taiwanese citizens, as it upholds our democracy and has contributed to our robust economy, which aligns with international and US interests, she said. “We would not be troublemakers and drag the US under,”
RSS