Presidential Donation Hoax: Sanlih's 'New Taiwan Go' Libel Campaign Against Ma Ying-jeou over Ting Hsin Group

In late 2014, amidst the public anger over the Ting Hsin Group's adulterated cooking oil scandal, Sanlih TV's flagship political talk show 'New Taiwan Go,' hosted by Liao Hsiao-chun, collaborated with political commentators like Zhou Yu-kou to launch a massive, months-long disinformation campaign. They publicly accused incumbent President Ma Ying-jeou of illicitly accepting 200 million NTD (with some pundits claiming up to 1 billion NTD) in illegal political donations from the Ting Hsin Group, framing him as the corporate giant's 'guardian angel' and the mastermind of systemic corruption. Following a comprehensive six-month investigation, the Special Investigation Division (SID) of the Supreme Prosecutors Office officially signed off and closed the case in June 2015, declaring that absolutely no evidence of wrongdoing was found, thereby proving the allegations to be entirely fabricated political rumors. The commentators involved were later convicted of libel and ordered to pay damages. The scandal exposed Sanlih's highly unprofessional abandonment of verification duties, serving as a platform for political hatchet men to fabricate stories and orchestrate character assassinations for political gain.