Media personality Clara Chou (周玉蔻) was found not guilty of defamation by the Taipei District Court yesterday in a case involving President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and allegations of illicit political donations by Ting Hsin International Group (頂新國際集團).
The court’s decision was based on interpretation of Article 310 of the Criminal Code, in stating that “although the defendant cannot prove if the expressed statements were true, if according to the evidence and materials presented the defendant has reason to believe in their veracity, then the case cannot be prosecuted as defamation and its related punishment.”
Prosecutors filed the case against Chou after she made accusations on talk shows and in statements to media outlets in December of 2014 saying that she had evidence that Ma had received NT$200 million (US$6.05 million at current exchange rates) in an off-the-books political donation from the owners of Ting Hsin.
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
Chou’s allegations came amid a public furor over a tainted food scandal involving the group after the company was found to have used adulterated ingredients in its oil products and she insinuated that Ma had become a “guardian protector,” shielding the group from prosecution.
Some political pundits and members of the public hailed yesterday’s court ruling as a victory for Chou and critics of the Ma administration, and as a major blow to Ma and his reputation.
In response, Ma expressed his dissatisfaction with the court’s ruling and issued a statement saying that he had requested his lawyers to appeal the ruling.
“President Ma regrets the court ruling. In recent years, a number of pundits and media figures have made groundless accusations, saying they have inside information. They have tarnished reputations and such abhorrent actions have resulted in a more chaotic society. We should condemn these developments and therefore we have requested that the lawyers appeal, to preserve goodwill and kindness in society,” the statement issued by Presidential Office spokesperson Charles Chen (陳以信) said.
Chou also accused former Presidential Office deputy secretary-general Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) of receiving benefits from Ting Hsin and said that Senhwa Biosciences chairman Benny Hu (胡定吾), a friend of Ma’s, had acted as a middleman in the NT$200 million donation.
Hu is also a board member of Taipei Financial Center Corp (台北金融大樓公司), the firm that operates Taipei 101.
Chou also alleged that Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) made a secret donation of NT$300 million to then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei mayoral candidate Sean Lien (連勝文) last year.
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
RSS