This week, Christians have celebrated Christmas and much of the world will celebrate the Western New Year. This is usually a time for people around the world to be thankful. We are of course thankful for the blessings we have received during the past year, but there is also a lot of pain, anguish and uncertainty.
In the US, we have to deal with the pain and anguish caused by the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. In the Middle East, there is continued civil strife in Syria and unrest in Egypt. And in the Far East, there is tension surrounding the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台) and the South China Sea caused by China’s aggressive behavior toward its neighbors, while the people of Tibet and East Turkestan continue to suffer under harsh and repressive Chinese rule.
In Taiwan, people were fortunate not to be faced with natural or man-made disasters this year as nature kept devastating typhoons and earthquakes away from Taiwan’s shores. The year has been relatively peaceful.
However, there are worrying clouds gathering that need the attention of Taiwanese and their international friends.
This is particularly true of the erosion of press freedom in Taiwan brought about by the takeover of China Network Systems’ cable TV network by the Want Want China Times Group in September and — even more ominously — the purchase of the Next Media Group, which includes the Apple Daily, by the same Want Want group controlled by chairman Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明).
This takeover would be alright if Tsai was a pro-democracy media magnate who respected the freedom of the press and journalistic and editorial independence. However, Tsai has not hesitated to display his support for the repressive rulers in Beijing and has time and again interfered in reporting and editing in the media under his control. The Committee to Protect Journalists and numerous other respected organizations have voiced concerns over the takeover.
The problem is, that with these new purchases, the Want Want group controls about 50 percent of all printed and electronic media in Taiwan — a serious situation under even normal circumstances.
This is a media monopoly in the making.
However, Taiwanese are not living under “normal” circumstances: Their country is being claimed by a giant neighbor and most countries around the world do not accord it diplomatic recognition out of fear of that neighbor.
So, given that background, it would be prudent for the responsible regulatory agencies — the Fair Trade Commission and the National Communications Commission — to think twice before they approve this sale.
If Taiwan is to remain a free and democratic country, it needs to ensure that the basic elements of freedom and democracy remain in place. It is therefore essential that Taiwan’s media do not gradually slide into the control of a conglomerate that is so obviously susceptible to pressures from Beijing.
Free news media is consistently thought of as a critical component of a true democracy and it must be protected. During the American Revolution, one famous “reporter” in 1775, Paul Revere, is said to have alerted patriots that “the British are coming,” before an impending attack.
Plenty of people in Taiwan are clear what could be coming next year.
Nat Bellocchi is a former chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan. The views expressed in this article are his own.
A gap appears to be emerging between Washington’s foreign policy elites and the broader American public on how the United States should respond to China’s rise. From my vantage working at a think tank in Washington, DC, and through regular travel around the United States, I increasingly experience two distinct discussions. This divergence — between America’s elite hawkishness and public caution — may become one of the least appreciated and most consequential external factors influencing Taiwan’s security environment in the years ahead. Within the American policy community, the dominant view of China has grown unmistakably tough. Many members of Congress, as
The Hong Kong government on Monday gazetted sweeping amendments to the implementation rules of Article 43 of its National Security Law. There was no legislative debate, no public consultation and no transition period. By the time the ink dried on the gazette, the new powers were already in force. This move effectively bypassed Hong Kong’s Legislative Council. The rules were enacted by the Hong Kong chief executive, in conjunction with the Committee for Safeguarding National Security — a body shielded from judicial review and accountable only to Beijing. What is presented as “procedural refinement” is, in substance, a shift away from
The shifting geopolitical tectonic plates of this year have placed Beijing in a profound strategic dilemma. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) prepares for a high-stakes summit with US President Donald Trump, the traditional power dynamics of the China-Japan-US triangle have been destabilized by the diplomatic success of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in Washington. For the Chinese leadership, the anxiety is two-fold: There is a visceral fear of being encircled by a hardened security alliance, and a secondary risk of being left in a vulnerable position by a transactional deal between Washington and Tokyo that might inadvertently empower Japan
After declaring Iran’s military “gone,” US President Donald Trump appealed to the UK, France, Japan and South Korea — as well as China, Iran’s strategic partner — to send minesweepers and naval forces to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. When allies balked, the request turned into a warning: NATO would face “a very bad” future if it refused. The prevailing wisdom is that Trump faces a credibility problem: having spent years insulting allies, he finds they would not rally when he needs them. That is true, but superficial, as though a structural collapse could be caused by wounded feelings. Something
RSS