Shieh Chung-liang () is a Taiwanese journalist known for his role in a high-profile

libel Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions ...

suit. Shieh received a master's degree in journalism from the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

. In 1996, he was Taiwan bureau chief of the Hong Kong–based magazine ''

Yazhou Zhoukan ''Yazhou Zhoukan'' () is a Chinese-language international affairs newsweekly. It was launched in 1987 by Michael O'Niell as a sister magazine to '' Asiaweek''. It is published by Yazhou Zhoukan Limited (a subsidiary of Media Chinese Internatio ...

''. Teaming with reporter Ying Chan, he co-wrote an article on 25 October reporting that Liu Tai-ying, the business manager of Taiwan's

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...

political party, had offered $15 million to US President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

's re-election campaign. The article also printed a denial from Liu that he had offered the money. Liu went on to file a criminal libel suit against the pair on 7 November. Chen Chao-ping, a political consultant named as the source of the story, was added as a co-defendant. Liu also filed a civil suit for $15 million in damages. ''Yazhou Zhoukan'' defended its reporters and refused to settle the suit outside of court. Calling the trial "a test case for press freedom in Asia",

The Committee to Protect Journalists The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in New York City, with correspondents around the world. CPJ promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journalists. The ''American Journalism ...

filed an

amicus brief An amicus curiae (; ) is an individual or organization that is not a party to a legal case, but that is permitted to assist a court by offering information, expertise, or insight that has a bearing on the issues in the case. Whether an ''amic ...

on the pair's behalf, as did ten major US media companies. The Kuomintang called a special meeting to endorse the libel suit and condemn Shieh and Chan. However, a Taiwanese district court ruled in the pair's favor on 22 April 1997. The ruling was "hailed as a landmark decision" for press freedom by media watchdog groups, in part because Judge Lee Wei-shen's decision acknowledged the constitutional right to a free press for the first time in Taiwanese judicial history. In November 1997, The Committee to Protect Journalists gave Shieh and Chan its International Press Freedom Award, "an annual recognition of courageous journalism". The award citation stated that " hieh and Chan'scourage sets an example in a region noted for both widespread self-censorship and government intervention in the functioning of the press."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shieh, Chung-Liang Living people Taiwanese journalists University of Minnesota School of Journalism and Mass Communication alumni Year of birth missing (living people)