The Supreme Court yesterday upheld an earlier decision and ruled against former Council for Cultural Affairs minister Emile Sheng (盛治仁) in a libel suit related to the 2011 musical Dreamers (夢想家), finding the three defendants — writer Neil Peng (馮光遠), cartoonist Tsai Hsieh-tsung (蔡協崇) and Taipei City Councilor Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) — not guilty.
The court said criticism directed at Sheng and government-funded cultural programs in 2011 were issues of public interest, which may be subject to open debate, and that freedom of speech protected their right to express their opinions.
The defendants verified information to a reasonable degree and expressed their opinions without defaming Sheng, the court said, upholding an earlier verdict by the Taiwan High Court.
Yesterday’s ruling is final.
Sheng, serving in the administration of then-president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), was responsible for all aspects of arts and cultural programs, including overseeing budgets and granting government contracts, for a series of celebratory events and activities marking the centenary of the founding of the Republic of China.
A row ensued revolving around Dreamers, a rock musical by playwright Stan Lai (賴聲川), which was panned by critics. Among the criticism of the performance was its exorbitant budget: NT$258 million (US$8.1 million at the current exchange rate) for a two-night run on Oct. 10-11, 2011.
Peng called Dreamers an “extravagant waste of money,” saying that it was the result of “political and cultural elites colluding for profit” and that “Lai got the contract through his family and political connections to Ma.”
Sheng was not spared criticism by Peng, who called the then-minister “human garbage” and “a shameless government official” and said that “Sheng is a sycophantic dog serving his political masters, Ma and [then-premier] Wu [Den-yih (吳敦義)].”
Sheng resigned from the post on Nov. 18, 2011, and later filed a lawsuit in 2012 against Peng, Tsai and Liang, seeking NT$1 million in damages.
Tsai had teamed up with Peng, drawing cartoons that alleged Sheng had colluded with other officials to give fat government contracts for the centennial events only to Lai — who was known to be in Ma’s inner circle of friends — and a few other artists with close connections to the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
Liang had publicly said that Sheng divided the project into separate contracts to skirt public tender regulations and illegally profit, and requested that public prosecutors investigate alleged financial irregularities in the case.
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation last night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by media. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan. In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20. The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon. The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistle-blower, which purportedly showed the
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or
RSS