A television and radio pundit was ordered by the Taipei District Court yesterday to pay NT$2 million (US$60,346) in compensation to Hon Hai Group chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) for falsely claiming that Gou made a NT$300 million political contribution to the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate during last year’s Taipei mayoral election.
Clara Chou (周玉蔻), a HitFm radio host and frequent TV talk-show guest, in addition to paying monetary damages, was also ordered to write a half-page apology statement to be published on the front pages of seven newspapers, as well as on my-formosa.com.
Chou said on Facebook that she would definitely appeal the ruling.
According to the court, an investigation proved that Gou did not donate NT$300 million to Sean Lien (連勝文).
Chou made the claim based solely on an account by Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and did not verify it with Gou or Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘), the court said.
The case can be traced back to January, when Ko said in a radio interview that during the run-up to the mayoral election, a certain entrepreneur gave NT$300 million to his rival.
Soon after, Chou said on a TV talk-show that the entrepreneur mentioned by Ko was Gou.
Gou later filed a defamation suit against Chou. He also filed a civil lawsuit to demand compensation of NT$10 million from Chou.
When testifying in court, Ko said before the mayoral election, he had turned to Ker to help introduce him to Gou in the hope of seeking the tycoon’s support.
Ko said he was told that Gou supported his rival and had given the latter NT$300 million. Ko said he therefore dropped the idea of meeting Gou.
However, Ker testified that Ko misunderstood what he said. Ker said what he meant was that Gou had donated NT$300 million to the Taipei Pavilion of the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai during the tenure of former Taipei mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌).
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by