KMT sues Liberty Times over reports on meetings with CCP

Taipei, Feb. 11 (CNA) The Kuomintang (KMT) said Wednesday it has filed civil litigation against the Liberty Times and its editor-in-chief Tzou Jiing-wen (鄒景雯), accusing the newspaper of publishing "entirely untrue" reports on exchanges between the party and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

The party is seeking NT$2 million (US$63,696) in damages and also demanding that a clarification notice be published for one month on the front pages of the China Times, the United Daily News and the Liberty Times -- Taiwan's three major dailies.

Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, KMT spokesperson Chiang I-chen (江怡臻) said the Liberty Times published seven reports on Jan. 25, Jan. 26 and Sunday that she described as "fake news."

The reports made claims about a planned meeting between KMT leader Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) and CCP leader Xi Jinping (習近平), Chiang said.

These included headlines such as "Beijing dissatisfied that the KMT only takes exchange benefits" and "A meeting between Cheng and Xi planned for mid-March."

Wu Tsung-hsien (吳宗憲), director of the KMT's Culture and Communications Committee, said the KMT had previously sent two lawyer's letters over separate reports, which he said made "completely baseless" accusations.

One was about alleged "conditions" tied to arranging the meeting and another claiming a KMT lawmaker attended a gathering of Taiwan business people in China "to receive instructions from the other side," he said.

The civil complaint names the Liberty Times, its editor-in-chief Tzou and two reporters as defendants, he added.

KMT Vice Chairman Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said that after Cheng took office as party chair last November, many foreign officials stationed in Taiwan asked him whether there were arms procurement conditions in order to arrange a meeting between her and Xi.

He said the reports had caused "negative evaluations" and damage to the KMT's reputation, particularly ahead of Taiwan's upcoming "nine-in-one" elections in November.

He added that neither he nor Wu received any calls from the newspaper in relation to the reports, which he described as "very unusual."

In response, Liberty Times spokesperson Su Yu-hui (蘇宇暉) said the newspaper's reports "all had basis" and underwent "reasonable verification."