Clara Chou or Chou Yuh-kow (Chinese: 周玉蔻; pinyin: Zhōu Yùkòu; Wade–Giles: Chou Yu-kou; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Chiu Gio̍k-khò͘; born 9 September 1953) is a Taiwanese journalist, television and radio personality.
From 2012 until 2021, she anchored Chou Chou Breakfast (蔻蔻早餐) from 7:00 to 9:00 every weekday on Hit FM.
In 2014, Chou accused President Ma Ying-jeou of accepting donations from the Ting Hsin International Group.[2] At the time, the company was investigated as part of the 2014 Taiwan food scandal. Chou believed Ma had a hand in covering up Ting Hsin's role in the incident.[3] In December, Ma filed two lawsuits against Chou for the comments she made.[4] She countered with a lawsuit against the Kuomintang, targeting acting party chairperson Wu Den-yih.[5] Chou was stripped of her KMT membership later that month,[6][7] days after she had presented evidence of the party's alleged misdeeds.[8] In December 2015, the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office indicted Chou on charges of defamation in connection to her comments about Ting Hsin.[9] The first ruling in Ma's court case against Chou was handed down later that month. The Taipei District Court found her not guilty of defamation.[10][11] Ma appealed the verdict to the Taiwan High Court.[12]
Chou made further accusations of the KMT in June 2015, this time against then-unconfirmed presidential candidate Hung Hsiu-chu, claiming that Hung's master's degree from Northeast Missouri State University was falsified.[13][14] Hung sued Chou and the Next Magazine employees who first published the accusations.[15] Chou further stated in August that Hung was thinking of ending her presidential run early in return for a legislative position or money. In response, Hung charged Chou with defamation again.[16] That same month, Terry Gou was awarded NT$2 million in his defamation suit against Chou, who had accused Gou of violating the Political Donations Act in January.[17][18]
Political career
Chou supported the Kuomintang, before the party lost power in the 2000 election. After the loss, she publicly supported the Democratic Progressive Party's policies, and ran as a candidate for the Pan-GreenTaiwan Solidarity Union in the 2006 Taipei City municipal election.[1] She was expelled from the TSU during her mayoral campaign for suggesting that President Chen Shui-bian resign in the wake of First Lady Wu Shu-chen's indictment for graft,[19][20] though her name still appeared on the ballot as the TSU candidate.[21] The expulsion was later reduced to a suspension.[22] By 2008, Chou had rejoined the KMT.[1] After Ma Ying-jeou resigned as KMT chair in December 2014, Chou tried to run for the position, but was rejected.[23]
In 1998, Chou claimed that she and Daniel Huang had an affair.[26] She married Lee Hyun-Reng in 2001.[27]
Notes
^Despite Chou's expulsion from the Taiwan Solidarity Union on 9 November 2006, the party could not withdraw their recommendation for Chou under Republic of China's Public Officials Election and Recall Law. She would still contest the elections as a TSU candidate.[24]
^James Soong was Chairman of the People's First Party at the time of the elections, but entered the elections as an independent.[25]
