Court hears defamation lawsuit vs reporter, doctors' group

A Beijing court Monday started to hear a lawsuit filed by a reporter of the Southern Weekly who is accusing a China Central Television (CCTV) reporter and the Chinese Medical Doctor Association (CMDA) for defamation for claiming his reports widened doctor-patient disputes.

Chai Huiqun claims that articles published on the association's website in April 2014 damaged his reputation as they accused his of fabricating information on medical incidents. Some of the articles were published under the name of Wang Zhian, a CCTV reporter.

Chai is seeking 20,000 yuan ($3,224) in damages and requiring the defendants to delete all online articles which accuse him of false reporting. He is also demanding an open apology.

The Dongcheng District People's Court did not reach a verdict on Monday, while Chai could not be reached as of press time.

"Chai is seeking revenge," Deng Liqiang, the director of the legal affairs department of the CMDA, told the Global Times.

Evidence offered by the defendants includes the courts' verdicts related to Chai's previous reports," hospital documents, testimony of medical staff and other media reports, he added.

The CMDA filed its first complaint to the All-China Journalists Association (ACJA) against Chai in August 2014 for "failing to offer the truth."

In one story published in 2010 which the CMDA called a "false report," a nurse in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, allegedly sewed up the anus of a woman during labor as the patient allegedly did not bribe the nurse. The nurse claimed that she applied a ligature treatment to cure the woman's bleeding hemorrhoid.

A court in Shenzhen ruled in 2011 that the nurse be compensated 30,000 yuan by the woman's husband for having reputation damaged.

Chai had posted an article online before the trial, claiming that his reports were true and the ACJA did not protect him. However, he later placed restrictions on those who can view the post.

After Chai's reports attracted greater public attention, Wang claimed Chai's reports were questionable with his own investigation. Wang told the Global Times that he did not write the articles mentioned by Chai while a doctor from Beijing Jishuitan Hospital claimed that he is the author.

"We hoped to prove Chai's reports were wrong to . The case could encourage the public to review the media's role in solving doctor-patient disputes," Deng said.