The outstanding issue that remains is my defamation lawsuit against Phoenix television. The foregone conclusion is that I will have my day in Chinese court in Beijing. What is unknown is whether Phoenix TV chooses to show up to defend itself. Either way, the purpose of my lawsuit and the resultant verdict and judicial decision (right or wrong by western standards is irrelevant) will be aggressively publicized. This gets the truth and its associated fairness out in the public domain more and more. And advocating the truth is always the right thing!
In America, the right of free speech does not allow defamation, according to the law. Herein lies the truth behind western law: Anyone can publicly declare one’s opinion, but the public disclosure cannot contain known lies. In other words, during Moon Lee’s interview with Lu Yu in her popular TV program, if Moon had said that in her opinion, her ex-husband looks like a pig or that she suspects me to be a closet homosexual, then that would be her opinion and right of free speech. On the other hand, if she had claimed that I had been in jail, and that was factually incorrect, then she would be guilty of defamation; and Phoenix TV becomes an intentional co-conspirator by knowingly letting her make defaming statements.
Phoenix TV deserves to be sued over this. My time and money would be spent in a worthwhile fashion to allow China and its courts to assess its position regarding defamation of any citizen. It leads to public debate and discourse, allowing Chinese society to argue the points relating to media fairness. Chinese citizens are used to media companies acting as an outlet for political propaganda. That is different from whether media should take sides unfairly in a debate of private consequences.
Lu Yu has been a television celebrity for many years. I have been told and it is my opinion as a western physician that she likely suffers (or suffered) from a medical condition (an actual neurosis) that is called Anorexia Nervosa. Patients with that psychiatric disorder starve themselves to incredible thinness because they falsely think they are fat. My medical opinion is that Lu Yu either has Anorexia Nervosa or she has a debilitating illness causing muscle wasting in order to look the way she does. Medically speaking, I do NOT believe the latter. So my medical opinion is that this TV celebrity may suffer now or in the past with Anorexia Nervosa. Therefore, a prominent television media outlet working in China may have allowed a neurotic celebrity host to conspire with my lying ex-wife to defame my name, my reputation and damage my professional and personal image in the Chinese market. It may be a case of the mad working with the even more mad to bring havoc and betray the truth. This is “nuts”!
Lu Yu and Phoenix television deserves whatever publicity their defamation will bring upon them. Whatever the judicial verdict, citizens properly interested in this subject matter should get the chance to debate all aspects of the issue.
I did not pursue it much further. China has its weird interpretation of any laws, their own as well as international law. The final decisions are immaterial; it gave us a venue to propagate our real version of the truth --- that is as much as we needed.
ReplyDeleteThanks for commentary.