Former National Security Council secretary-general King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) yesterday appeared at the Taiwan High Court to appeal his lawsuit against award-winning screenwriter and author Neil Peng (馮光遠) over the latter’s remarks that he has a “special/sexual relationship” (特殊性關係) with President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).
King is appealing the Taiwan High Court’s ruling earlier this March, which dismissed his charge of criminal libel against Peng.
King is now suing Peng for NT$2 million (US$60,735) for publicly alleging that King climbed the ladders of Taiwanese government due to his “special relationship” with Ma, a phrase that King said meant Peng suspected him of having a “sexual relationship” with Ma.
Photo: CNA
Both parties appeared in person at the courthouse for the hearing and engaged in heated arguments over the context and syntax of Peng’s phrasing.
King said Peng is claiming in court that the phrase should be read as “special relationship” (特殊性, 關係), despite publicly urging King and Ma to “come out of the closet.”
King also accused Peng of “distorting the facts” and demanded that Peng provide “substantive evidence” to prove his assertions. King said that Peng’s blog posts have exceeded the limits of public criticism by using “scurrilous language,” which King said has caused harm to his reputation and that of his family.
King’s lawyer argued that Peng intentionally implied a “sexual relationship” (特殊, 性關係) because Peng had mentioned in reference to King and Ma that “adultery is still a crime” in Taiwan.
Peng said he was attempting to shed light on King’s rise to the highest ranks of government and that the media was his source of information, citing, for example, that Taipei City Councilor Tung Chung-yan (童仲彥) had called King “the underground Mayor” during Ma’s stint as Taipei mayor.
Peng added that the syntax of the phrase as he intended referred to the use of guangxi (關係, relations) in politics, just as “one might say Minister of Justice Luo Ying-shay (羅瑩雪) has a special relationship with Ma because Luo was Ma’s former schoolmate.”
Peng criticized King for his position in government without “having once earned a single vote from Taiwanese,” saying that King had “dined quite well” thanks to his “special relationship” with Ma, adding that King should “reflect on the massive damage” he had “inflicted on Taiwan’s democracy.”
“Whatever you are — heterosexual, homosexual or bisexual — is no business of mine or of Taiwanese, but for what reason did Ma appoint you to high office?” Peng said.
The court is scheduled to hand down its ruling on Oct. 6.
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by
RSS