Chou Yu-kou Submits Phone in Defamation Appeal to Refute Collusion Allegations
Media personalities Chou Yu-kou and Tsai Yu-chen, who were each sentenced to 1.5 years in prison in their first trial for defaming former Miss China Chang Shu-chuan, appeared in the Taiwan High Court for their appeal hearing today. The judge questioned the coincidence of both individuals making the allegations on the same day on different programs. To prove there was no collusion, Chou submitted her mobile phone in court, containing LINE chat logs with Tsai, as new evidence. The victim, Chang Shu-chuan, stated that the case has caused her four years of harm and hopes the court will conduct a thorough investigation. The next hearing is scheduled for August 4.
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- 📰 Published: May 19, 2026 at 14:30
- 🔍 Collected: May 19, 2026 at 15:01 (31 min after Published)
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: May 20, 2026 at 00:21 (9h 19m after Collected)
Media personalities Chou Yu-kou and Tsai Yu-chen were each sentenced to one and a half years in prison in their first trial for falsely accusing former Miss China Chang Shu-chuan of being involved in an affair. During the second-instance hearing today, the judge questioned whether it was too much of a coincidence that Chou and Tsai made the allegations on the same day on different political talk shows. Chou submitted her LINE conversation with Tsai as evidence, asserting they had not coordinated.
After the hearing, Chang Shu-chuan told the media that the case has harmed her for four years, leaving her mentally and physically exhausted. She stressed that with Chiang Wan-an running for re-election as Taipei Mayor, the female protagonist in his father Chiang Hsiao-yen's "Grand Hotel scandal" has absolutely nothing to do with her. She hopes the Taiwan High Court, in the second instance, will conduct a proper trial, given that Chou and Tsai made the accusations without any human or material evidence.
Chang Shu-chuan's lawyer, Wu Han-cheng, explained that Chou and Tsai had continuously discussed the matter in a piecemeal fashion on political talk shows from September 15 to September 23, 2022, eventually even disclosing Chang's personal information. The judge had originally planned for closing arguments today but had to postpone due to evidence that still needed investigation, including a ratings report from the Nielsen Company that has not yet been received. The court also needs to clarify whether there was a conspiratorial intent between Chou and Tsai, as their making accusations on the same day on different programs was too coincidental.
Furthermore, Chou Yu-kou presented her own mobile phone in court, arguing that the LINE conversation with Tsai Yu-chen could prove that the two had not coordinated. She handed the phone directly to the judge. After a brief review, the judge considered it new evidence not present in the prosecutor's or the first trial's case files and ordered color printouts of their conversation from September 17 to September 23, 2022. The next hearing on August 4 will be for investigation, clarification, and closing arguments.
Tsai Yu-chen stated in court that on September 22, 2022, Chou Yu-kou asked her to re-confirm with a hotel restaurant supervisor surnamed Tai. However, she could not reach her that day and reported this back to Chou before going on another political talk show.
A former producer of FTV's "Spicy News," surnamed Wu, testified that he had not seen the FTV political talk show production quality review process guidelines, which were provided in a letter from the National Communications Commission (NCC), before producing the program on this incident. He stated that the direction and theme of the program were all led by the host, Chou Yu-kou.
Separately, the judge presented the minutes from FTV's self-regulatory committee meeting in October of the same year. The minutes noted that Tsai Yu-chen had heard from a female restaurant supervisor, Ms. Tai, at a hotel dinner party that the woman involved in the affair with Chiang Hsiao-yen was her high school classmate, who had been a flight attendant and a Miss China. The producer, Mr. Wu, confirmed this testimony was correct.
The case originated in September 2022, when Chou Yu-kou and Tsai Yu-chen alleged that former Miss China and former China Airlines flight attendant Chang Shu-chuan was the woman involved in Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an's father, Chiang Hsiao-yen's, "Grand Hotel scandal." After Chang filed a lawsuit, the Taipei District Prosecutors Office indicted Chou and Tsai for aggravated defamation and violation of the Personal Data Protection Act.
The Taipei District Court, in its first-instance ruling on November 26, 2024, found Chou and Tsai's attitude to be poor and sentenced each to 1 year and 6 months in prison for the illegal use of personal data by a non-governmental agency under the Personal Data Protection Act. The case was appealed and is now being heard by the Taiwan High Court.
After the hearing, Chang Shu-chuan told the media that the case has harmed her for four years, leaving her mentally and physically exhausted. She stressed that with Chiang Wan-an running for re-election as Taipei Mayor, the female protagonist in his father Chiang Hsiao-yen's "Grand Hotel scandal" has absolutely nothing to do with her. She hopes the Taiwan High Court, in the second instance, will conduct a proper trial, given that Chou and Tsai made the accusations without any human or material evidence.
Chang Shu-chuan's lawyer, Wu Han-cheng, explained that Chou and Tsai had continuously discussed the matter in a piecemeal fashion on political talk shows from September 15 to September 23, 2022, eventually even disclosing Chang's personal information. The judge had originally planned for closing arguments today but had to postpone due to evidence that still needed investigation, including a ratings report from the Nielsen Company that has not yet been received. The court also needs to clarify whether there was a conspiratorial intent between Chou and Tsai, as their making accusations on the same day on different programs was too coincidental.
Furthermore, Chou Yu-kou presented her own mobile phone in court, arguing that the LINE conversation with Tsai Yu-chen could prove that the two had not coordinated. She handed the phone directly to the judge. After a brief review, the judge considered it new evidence not present in the prosecutor's or the first trial's case files and ordered color printouts of their conversation from September 17 to September 23, 2022. The next hearing on August 4 will be for investigation, clarification, and closing arguments.
Tsai Yu-chen stated in court that on September 22, 2022, Chou Yu-kou asked her to re-confirm with a hotel restaurant supervisor surnamed Tai. However, she could not reach her that day and reported this back to Chou before going on another political talk show.
A former producer of FTV's "Spicy News," surnamed Wu, testified that he had not seen the FTV political talk show production quality review process guidelines, which were provided in a letter from the National Communications Commission (NCC), before producing the program on this incident. He stated that the direction and theme of the program were all led by the host, Chou Yu-kou.
Separately, the judge presented the minutes from FTV's self-regulatory committee meeting in October of the same year. The minutes noted that Tsai Yu-chen had heard from a female restaurant supervisor, Ms. Tai, at a hotel dinner party that the woman involved in the affair with Chiang Hsiao-yen was her high school classmate, who had been a flight attendant and a Miss China. The producer, Mr. Wu, confirmed this testimony was correct.
The case originated in September 2022, when Chou Yu-kou and Tsai Yu-chen alleged that former Miss China and former China Airlines flight attendant Chang Shu-chuan was the woman involved in Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an's father, Chiang Hsiao-yen's, "Grand Hotel scandal." After Chang filed a lawsuit, the Taipei District Prosecutors Office indicted Chou and Tsai for aggravated defamation and violation of the Personal Data Protection Act.
The Taipei District Court, in its first-instance ruling on November 26, 2024, found Chou and Tsai's attitude to be poor and sentenced each to 1 year and 6 months in prison for the illegal use of personal data by a non-governmental agency under the Personal Data Protection Act. The case was appealed and is now being heard by the Taiwan High Court.