TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has told her attorneys to collect information with the intention of filing a lawsuit against talk show host Dennis Peng (彭文正) for alleging her Ph.D. from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) was false, the Presidential Office said late Thursday (September 12).

Last week, the president sued two academics who have been claiming she never passed her dissertation defense in 1984.

A presidential spokesperson accused the critics of never bothering to seek the truth from the LSE itself while manufacturing rumors about the president not having completed her Ph.D. studies and even not having written her dissertation herself.

The relevant evidence has already been shown, both by the Presidential Office and by the London university, the spokesperson said, adding that because President Tsai’s reputation had already been damaged, it was necessary to take legal action.