Chinese-origin businessman wins media defamation case in Australia
Sydney, Australia, Feb 2 (efe-epa).- A federal court on Tuesday ordered Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) to compensate a Chinese-origin billionaire for defaming and wrongly portraying him as a spy for the Chinese Communist Party.
The public broadcaster had depicted Chau Chak Wing, an Australian citizen, in a 2017 “Four Corners” episode as a Chinese spy who sought to influence Australia’s Chinese policy by paying enormous sums of money to political parties as bribes.
He was also accused of bribing a high-level United Nations official.
Judge Steven Rares said the allegations “struck at the heart of Chau’s good name for his integrity, philanthropy, and constructive contributions to developing a positive relationship between Australia and China.”
“Chau’s and his daughter’s evidence of the immediate impact of the program made clear how profoundly his reputation had been affected,” the judge noted.
He ordered that Chau was entitled to the relief in a verdict, including pre-judgment interest of AU$590,000 in damages, a permanent injunction restraining the publishers from publishing or making available online or otherwise.
The judge ordered ABC to withdraw the parts considered as defamatory of the report of the “Power and Influence” episode of “Four Corners”, which was the product of a joint investigation with the then media group Fairfax Media, which has since been bought by Nine Entertainment.
ABC, in a joint statement with and Nine, said they “are deeply disappointed by today’s judgment by Justice Rares and believe it will have a further chilling effect on media freedom in this country.”
The public broadcaster defended the report, stating that it “resulted in an important national discussion about the issue of foreign interference in Australia and led to the landmark Foreign Interference and Espionage laws being introduced in 2018.”
Last year in November, an influential Chinese-Australian businessman, Di Sahn Duong, 65, a former Liberal Party candidate, became the first person to be charged with the crime of foreign interference in the oceanic country.
In mid-2020, Australian security and intelligence officials searched the home and office of New South Wales Legislative Representative Shaoquett Moselmane, suspected of being part of an alleged Chinese interference scheme.
Following the Moselmane case, authorities also searched the homes of four Chinese journalists.
The alleged ties of the Chinese Communist Party with ruling coalition lawmaker Gladys Liu shook the Canberra political landscape in 2019.
Australia-China ties have deteriorated due to Canberra’s push for an independent investigation into the origin of the new coronavirus that was first detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan.
China recently responded by imposing tariffs on some Australian imports. EFE
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Chinese origin businessman wins media defamation case in Australia
Sydney, Australia, Feb 2 (EFE).- A court on Tuesday ordered Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) to compensate a Chinese-origin billionaire for defaming and wrongly portraying him as a spy for the Chinese Communist Party.
The public broadcaster had depicted Chau Chak Wing, an Australian citizen, in a 2017 “Four Corners” episode as a Chinese spy who sought to influence Australia’s Chinese policy by paying enormous sums of money to political parties as bribes.
He was also accused of bribing a high-level United Nations official.
