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June 26, 2015

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2 pundits told to pay each other

Two high-profile pundits who traded insults online after taking opposing stances on GM corn were ordered by a Beijing court yesterday to compensate each other, delete the remarks and publicly apologize.

Beijing Haidian District People鈥檚 Court found Fang Shimin, an online celebrity and biochemist who writes under the pen name Fang Zhouzi, and Cui Yongyuan, a former TV host with state broadcaster CCTV, were guilty of defamation on microblogging platform Sina Weibo in September 2013.

They now must pay each other 45,000 yuan (US$7,250)and make public apologies on Sina Weibo and in Xinhua Daily Telegraph.

Neither were in court during the ruling. Fang鈥檚 attorney said he would appeal.

The spat began when Cui questioned Fang鈥檚 promotion of GM corn. It escalated, with accusations flying from both sides, including over each other鈥檚 personal finances.

The court heard that Cui called Fang 鈥減ig鈥檚 elbow,鈥 after a famous dish that has a similar pronunciation as Fang鈥檚 pen name 鈥淶houzi鈥 in Chinese. He also called Fang a 鈥渞ogue.鈥 Fang denounced Cui as a 鈥渕ad dog鈥 and a 鈥渮ombie host.鈥

Fang filed a lawsuit against Cui in January last year, asking him to stop 鈥渋nfringing upon his reputation,鈥 apologize and pay 300,000 yuan in compensation for his mental suffering.

Cui counter-sued, asking for an apology and compensation of 670,000 yuan.


 

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