TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Taipei District Court ruled Friday (Dec. 23) that President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) did write a Ph. D. thesis for the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), dealing a blow to media personality Dennis Peng (彭文正).

Since 2019, the former talk show host, now a fugitive in the United States, has alleged that the president did not write a dissertation and therefore did not obtain a Ph.D. degree from the prestigious British institute.

At a hearing last month, Tsai’s attorney presented documents related to the 1983 defense of her dissertation, the Liberty Times reported. The papers included a copy of the thesis including notes written by Tsai, a letter from the LSE used to help her apply for a visa, and her passport with the 1983 visa for the United Kingdom.

Appeals against Friday’s court decision were still possible, Radio Taiwan International (RTI) reported. The Presidential Office said it respected the ruling, while calling on the public to stop wasting time, but rely on correct information from the London school.

The Taipei District Court already ruled in Tsai’s favor in 2020, but the following year, the Taiwan High Court ordered the case to be retried. In the meantime, Peng was charged with aggravated libel due to his description of the president as a “false Ph.D. graduate,” and declared a fugitive after he refused to attend relevant hearings.