Ruling on Alleged Forgery in Tsai Ing-wen's 'Thesis Gate' Case; Responds from Peng Wen-cheng

Media personality Peng Wen-cheng accused former President Tsai Ing-wen of submitting her doctoral thesis from the London School of Economics to Taiwan's National Library and registering it in the 'Taiwan Academic Theses and Dissertations Knowledge Value System,' alleging forgery. The case was dismissed in both the first and second trials, and the Supreme Court rejected the appeal, finalizing the ruling. In response, Peng expressed dissatisfaction on Facebook, saying, 'We lost because the case was dismissed? Hmph!'

In his private prosecution, Peng stated that Tsai did not obtain her law doctorate in accordance with the regulations of the London School of Economics, part of the University of London. He reported on Tsai's alleged academic fraud during a political commentary program he produced in 2019 (Republic of China Year 108). To entangle Peng in criminal proceedings, Tsai added him as a co-defendant for aggravated defamation at the Taipei District Prosecutors Office. She also bound her research proposals and submitted them to the National Library, registering them in the 'Taiwan Academic Theses and Dissertations Knowledge Value System,' which Peng claims constitutes the criminal offense of public officials falsifying official documents under Taiwan's Criminal Code.

The Taipei District Court ruled that whether Peng committed aggravated defamation depended on whether he had conducted reasonable verification, and was not necessarily linked to the authenticity of the thesis Tsai submitted to the system. Furthermore, the 'criminal act' alleged by Peng did not directly harm Peng himself at the time of the incident. Therefore, the court deemed the private prosecution inadmissible and dismissed the case.

The Taiwan High Court stated that even if the facts alleged by Peng were true, the direct victim of Tsai's actions should be the National Library's accuracy in managing the theses and dissertations system. Since Peng is neither the author, nominal holder, nor a rights claimant of the thesis, it is difficult to recognize that his legal interests were directly harmed by Tsai's actions. Thus, the appeal was rejected.

Regarding the ruling, Peng commented, 'We lost because the case was dismissed? Hmph! There are still 17 ongoing lawsuits against Tsai Ing-wen and her allies in Taiwan and the UK combined. Let's keep watching.'

More exclusive reports from Feng Media: · Lai Jui-long and Ko Chih-en face a new opponent! The man who sued Tsai Ing-wen over the 'Thesis Gate' announces his run for Kaohsiung mayor · Tsai Ing-wen's promotion thesis kept secret for 65 years? Lo Chih-chiang reveals new regulations: The Ministry of Education can't hide anymore · Chen Shui-bian defends Peng Wen-cheng: 'Tsai Ing-wen's doctoral thesis is too shameful to show!' Presidential Office responds