First hearing in Zhang Ziyi vs Boxun defamation lawsuit 'vacated'

John Kennedy

BIO

John Kennedy is Canadian, and a longtime resident of southern China. As a veteran member of the Chinese online community, most notably through his six years as a former editor with Global Voices Online, John knows more than is useful about China today but enjoys sharing his findings on Twitter as @feng37 and @28wordslater.

Chinese political news site Boxun published a short update today on the ongoing defamation lawsuit brought against its founder, Watson Meng, by actress Zhang Ziyi.

According to the update, the judge assigned to the first hearing in the case, scheduled to take place in federal court in Los Angeles tomorrow, notified Boxun Tuesday a last-minute decision was made to vacate tomorrow's hearing, adding it might be rescheduled for a future date if necessary.

Speaking to SCMP today, Meng speculates the decision to "vacate" might have been made following a meeting between Zhang's attorneys and the judge, but he doesn't see it as indication of much.

"It's only the beginning," Meng says, "unless they withdraw the suit."

In May last year, Boxun claimed to have received confirmation from multiple sources Zhang was paid large sums of money to sleep with Bo Xilai on a number of occassions between 2007 and 2011.

For a detailed summary of where the case has gone since then, check out this post from Techdirt.

Boxun has defended its reports, which remain online today, and has said it is prepared to back them up with proof should the case ever go to trial.