UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

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CHUAN-GUO XIAO, Index No.

Plaintiff,

- against -    COMPLAINT

YI RAO, SHIMIN FANG and

NEW THREADS CHINESE

CULTURAL SOCIETY, INC.

Defendants.

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Nature of the Action

1. Plaintiff, Chuan-Guo Xiao, brings this action for defamation to redress false written statements maliciously made and published by defendants.  Plaintiff, a resident of Brooklyn  is defamed in the article “My Opinions On The Libel Suit Brought by Xiao Chuan-Guo Against Fang Shi-Min,” (henceforth “My Opinions”) written by defendant YI RAO and published on the internet by defendants SHIMIN FANG and NEW THREADS CHINESE CULTURAL SOCIETY, INC., and thereafter and as a result published by the print and internet editions of the People’s Daily, a leading Chinese-language news source.  The article is a sustained and malicious assault upon plaintiff’s reputation, falsely and with malice claiming plaintiff has a “very low level of academic achievement” and has failed to demonstrate that “he really knows science at all,” plus other similar statements.  The article goes on to state, falsely and with malice, that Plaintiff is either mentally retarded or a “psychopath.”  The author claims himself qualified to make such judgments, since he is “very familiar with the Chinese biomedical community,” has “in depth knowledge about biomedical history and evolution in China,” is “well connected within international neuroscience circle.”

2. The truth is that Chun-Guo Xiao is a highly-regarded academic urologist who is internationally recognized for his pioneering work related to bladder problems related to spinal cord injury, and has pioneered a novel procedure for the rehabilitation of such spinal-cord related bladder dysfunction.  This novel procedure has enabled victims of such injury to void without the aid of a catheter, thereby avoiding the serious risks of infection associated with constant catheter use and thereby increasing life expectancy.

3. Upon information and belief, defendants Yi Rao, Shimin Fang and New Threads Chinese Cultural Society, Inc. knew all of the true facts set forth in paragraph 2 above, yet they published the defamation knowing it was untrue and without regard to its effect on plaintiff.

4. As a result of these knowingly false assertions, plaintiff has suffered injury to his personal and professional reputation, great emotional and psychological distress, loss of business and career opportunities, and specifically was denied an appointment to the Chinese Academy of Science.  All defendants are therefore jointly and severally liable for compensatory and exemplary damages.

JURISDICTION AND VENUE

5. This Court has diversity jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a)(2) in that Plaintiff is a citizen of China domiciled in China, who resides in the State of New York as a lawful alien; defendant Yi Rao is a United States Citizen domiciled in the State of Illinois; defendant Shimin Fang is a United States Citizen domiciled in the State of California; and defendant New Threads Chinese Cultural Society, Inc. is a New York State corporation with its principal place of business in New York State. The matter in controversy exceeds, exclusive of interests and costs, the sum specified by 28 U.S.C. § 1332. 

6.  Venue is proper in this Court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1391(a) because a substantial amount of the events giving rise to the claim occurred in the Southern District of New York.

THE PARTIES

Chun-Guo Xiao

7. Plaintiff, Chun-Guo Xiao, is a Clinical Associate Professor on the faculty of New York University School of Medicine.  He is a citizen of China, maintains his domicile in China, and is an alien lawfully in this country, residing in Brooklyn, County of Kings, State of New York..

8. Throughout his career of public service and private practice, plaintiff has always developed an excellent reputation for academic, scientific and medical achievement in his profession.  Doctor Xiao is the only person in the history of the American Urological Association to be the recipient of the distinguished Jack Lapides award on two separate occasions.  This award is one given by the American Urological Association for outstanding work in the field of Urology.

9. Plaintiff's academic career, as well as his private medical practice depend on his reputation for academic, scientific, and medical achievement.

Yi Rao

10.  Defendant Yi Rao is a professor of neurology at the North Western University School of Medicine, in Illinois

11. Upon information and belief, defendant Yi Rao is the author of “My Opinions.”

12. Defendant Yi Rao is a resident of Chicago, Illinois.  He is a citizen of the United States.

New Threads Chinese Cultural Society, Inc.

13. Upon information and belief, defendant New Threads Chinese Cultural Society, Inc., is a New York not-for-profit corporation, incorporated in Onandanga County, New York, and with its principal place of business in Liverpool, Onandanga County, New York. One of its primary business operations is the publication of New Threads magazine, a daily internet magazine.  The defendant corporation and the magazine are operated by defendant Shimin Fang, who is also its President and Director of the defendant corporation.  The defendant corporation is known for sensationalist journalism, particularly muckraking articles assaulting the reputations of prominent Chinese citizens.

14. Defendant New Threads Chinese Cultural Society, Inc. published an online edition of the article “My Opinions” on or about September 6, 2006, and has continued to publish the article online thereafter.

Shimin Fang

15.  Defendant Shimin Fang is the President and Director of defendant New Threads Chinese Cultural Society, Inc.  On prior occasions, not directly the subject of this lawsuit, defendant Shimin Fang wrote libelous claims about plaintiff, which he and New Threads Chinese Cultural Society, Inc. arranged to have published in the New Threads internet magazine.  After plaintiff successfully sued Shimin Fang for libel for these statements, Shimin Fang, in retaliation and with malicious motives, arranged for the libelous article “My Opinion,” ostensibly written by Yi Rao, to be published by New Threads Chinese Cultural Society, Inc. and elsewhere.

16.  Shimin Fang is a resident of the City of San Diego, County of San Diego, State of California.  He is a citizen of the United States.

The Untrue Statements in “My Opinions”Concerning Chun-Guo Xiao

17. Defendant Yi Rao’s article, “My Opinion,” consists of a sustained assault upon plaintiff’s reputation, wherein defendant Yi Rao claims plaintiff has a “very low level of academic achievement” and has failed to demonstrate that “he really knows science at all” or is any better than “the students taught by my students,” and that “[i]f he ever becomes an academician, he will surely set the record for the lowest standing.”  The article goes on to express defendant Yi Roa’s belief that Plaintiff must be mentally defective.

18. Although Yi Roa, in his article, continually and in an exaggerated tongue-in-cheek fashion, characterizes his defamatory statements as “opinions,” this is little more than a legalistic ploy, and evidently intended to be understood as such by the readers.  The beginning of the article, Yi Roa strains to characterize himself as a person with connections and expertise within the international neuroscience community and the Chinese biomedical community, so as to establish that he is qualified to assess the academic reputation of Plaintiff, Chun-Guo Xiao.

19.  An English Translation of “My Opinion” is attached hereto as Exhibit A and incorporated herein by reference.

20. The article “My Opinion,” in Chinese, continues to be disseminated widely throughout the United States and in other countries via the internet.

Defamation and Damages

21.  The statements referred to in paragraph 15 above, published by defendants of and concerning plaintiff, are materially false and defamatory and impute to plaintiff general professional and academic incompetence, total lack of fitness for his profession, and even mental illness. Defendants published these statements wantonly and recklessly, with reckless disregard for its injurious effect upon plaintiff.

22. By reason of the above, plaintiff has suffered emotional anguish, and been injured in his character and reputation in the community, particularly in the Chinese-reading community, both professionally and otherwise, to his damage in the sum of (i) $500,000 in compensatory damages and (ii) $500,000 in exemplary damages in an amount that is a sufficient percentage of defendants' net worth to deter such conduct in the future.

First Cause of Action(Libel—Gross Irresponsibility as Against All Defendants)

23.  Plaintiff hereby repeats and realleges paragraphs 1 through 22 as if fully set forth herein.

24. In publishing the defamatory statements referred to in paragraph 15, defendants acted in a grossly irresponsible manner without due consideration for the standards of information gathering and dissemination ordinarily followed by responsible parties.

Second Cause of Action(Libel—Actual Malice as Against All Defendants)

25. Plaintiff hereby repeats and realleges paragraph 1 through 22 as if fully set forth herein.

26. At the time the defendants published the defamatory statements quoted in paragraph 15, they knew that they were false, or acted with reckless disregard of whether they were true or not.