The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday announced that it has dropped defamation cases against the Financial Times, Central News Agency (CNA) president Chang Jui-chang (張瑞昌) and others after Want Want China Times Media Group (旺旺中時集團) suddenly rescinded its lawsuits.
The group in 2019 filed a lawsuit against the London-based newspaper, the state-run news agency and two others over a July 17, 2019, report by Financial Times reporter Kathrin Hille.
In the article, Hille quoted anonymous journalists at Want Want-owned media outlets the China Times and CtiTV (中天電視) as saying that editorial staff took daily orders from China’s Taiwan Affairs Office on how to handle news relating to cross-strait affairs and China.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
CNA and other news outlets subsequently quoted the article, drawing ire from the group and a vow to sue for slander all that cited the report.
Lawyer Chen Shou-huang (陳守煌), who at the time represented Want Want in announcing the lawsuits, yesterday said that he no longer works for the conglomerate and did not know about the decision or the reasoning behind it.
Hille during questioning provided her handwritten notes from interviews as evidence and attested that she fulfilled her obligation to verify information before publication.
However, she declined to reveal the identities of her sources, citing her duty to protect them.
Earlier this year while the office was investigating the case, Want Want abruptly rescinded its lawsuits, the office said.
Since defamation suits in Taiwan require a complaint by a victim, investigators decided to end their probe, it said.
A Chinese freighter that allegedly snapped an undersea cable linking Taiwan proper to Penghu County is suspected of being owned by a Chinese state-run company and had docked at the ports of Kaohsiung and Keelung for three months using different names. On Tuesday last week, the Togo-flagged freighter Hong Tai 58 (宏泰58號) and its Chinese crew were detained after the Taipei-Penghu No. 3 submarine cable was severed. When the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) first attempted to detain the ship on grounds of possible sabotage, its crew said the ship’s name was Hong Tai 168, although the Automatic Identification System (AIS)
An Akizuki-class destroyer last month made the first-ever solo transit of a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ship through the Taiwan Strait, Japanese government officials with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. The JS Akizuki carried out a north-to-south transit through the Taiwan Strait on Feb. 5 as it sailed to the South China Sea to participate in a joint exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces that day. The Japanese destroyer JS Sazanami in September last year made the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s first-ever transit through the Taiwan Strait, but it was joined by vessels from New Zealand and Australia,
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SECURITY: The purpose for giving Hong Kong and Macau residents more lenient paths to permanent residency no longer applies due to China’s policies, a source said The government is considering removing an optional path to citizenship for residents from Hong Kong and Macau, and lengthening the terms for permanent residence eligibility, a source said yesterday. In a bid to prevent the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from infiltrating Taiwan through immigration from Hong Kong and Macau, the government could amend immigration laws for residents of the territories who currently receive preferential treatment, an official familiar with the matter speaking on condition of anonymity said. The move was part of “national security-related legislative reform,” they added. Under the amendments, arrivals from the Chinese territories would have to reside in Taiwan for
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