The National Communications Commission (NCC) has announced two new draft laws: One for telecommunications infrastructure and resource management, the other a telecommunications enterprise act.
With these, the commission has rounded out the draft versions of its five “convergence laws,” the other three — announced in October and last month — being draft management regulations for radio and TV enterprises and channel enterprises; an electronic telecommunications broadcast management law; and regulations governing cable multichannel platform services.
These apparently complete convergence laws fall far short of what is actually required. They are too little, too late and of precious little substance, despite the fanfare that has accompanied their announcements. Of particular distaste is the tacky, populist approach the commission has taken in its preoccupation with personal capital and market competition, and the fact that the rules are dated before they even hit the ground, lacking as they do the policies for cultural preservation and stimuli for the audiovisual industry that have proven so effective in other nations.
First, the commission does not seem to be aware of where the problems with Taiwan’s audiovisual industry are. Not only has it not put the needed protections in place, it has also failed to come up with a substantive, effective stimulus strategy. Of course, the responsibility for these two tasks cannot be placed at the feet of the commission alone, but it does seem that there is hardly any communication between the commission and the Ministry of Culture, each of which is going its own merry way.
As early as 2005, the Control Yuan issued a report, written by members Huang Huang-hsiung (黃煌雄) and Huang Chin-jenn (黃勤鎮), on Taiwan’s audiovisual industry policy and its implementation, in which the authors were already pointing to how the industry was at risk from outside providers, while lambasting the backwardness of the policy of the time and the ambiguity surrounding its intended implementation. Fast-forward to today, a decade down the road, and there has been little discernible improvement in these areas, even many years after the commission — in 2006 — and the ministry — 2012 — were established.
With these five draft convergence laws, the commission has not only further opened radio broadcasting up to overseas investors, but radio broadcasters, television content providers and cable TV companies are no longer required to produce content related to Taiwan as was previously the case.
In other nations, content providers are subject to such regulations, which are designed to protect the culture of that nation. EU countries, for example, are expected to comply with the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD), which not only means that each broadcast channel is required to air a certain percentage of locally produced content, resulting in a sustained increase in the proportion of locally produced programming being aired in those countries, it also means that non-linear, on-demand audiovisual media is regulated, with initial results being observed over the past few years.
In the EU, locally produced content from independent providers represents an even higher proportion than the AVMSD-set lower limit of 10 percent, making up 34.1 percent and 33.8 percent in 2009 and 2010 respectively. In addition, the proportion of EU-produced content aired throughout Europe as a whole stands at anywhere between 37 percent and 100 percent for non-linear, on-demand audiovisual content.
The commission has also declared that it would concentrate its guns only on the biggest offenders, reducing the duties and obligations of cable multichannel platform service providers.
In the draft regulations, the commission has not only abolished limitations on scales of operations, it has also said that providers with less than one-quarter of the total subscribers in a given area no longer need to report viewing figures or provide public access or local channels, neither will they be responsible for providing bandwidth for Public TV or Hakka and Aboriginal channels, and it is also to remove the requirement that funds are to be levied from cable TV providers to fund public TV stations.
It is difficult to know exactly what the commission is thinking. In its rush to attract investment, it is ignoring public responsibility and encouraging negligence of duty while turning a blind eye to the nascent monopoly the cable TV industry is already exerting on the market.
Since the commission came into being, it has busied itself drawing up draft regulations and doing its legislative duties. Although these are important, the commission has been less active on working at things that can be implemented without first having to be subjected to the legislature. It is extremely frustrating when bills are heard at the legislature only for them to not be passed.
What is the commission doing? With the exception of occasionally throwing up a pile of draft laws of questionable wisdom or worth and which only get bogged down in the legislature anyway, it does not appear to be doing what it should be. It is not as if the public is expecting miracles of it: It just wants to see Taiwan’s news media environment improve with measures that are workable, while seeing protection of — and stimulus for — the ailing domestic broadcasting industry. When the whole industry collapses, the commission will find itself with nothing to do.
Lo Shih-hung is a professor of communications at National Chung Cheng University.
Translated by Paul Cooper
When US budget carrier Southwest Airlines last week announced a new partnership with China Airlines, Southwest’s social media were filled with comments from travelers excited by the new opportunity to visit China. Of course, China Airlines is not based in China, but in Taiwan, and the new partnership connects Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport with 30 cities across the US. At a time when China is increasing efforts on all fronts to falsely label Taiwan as “China” in all arenas, Taiwan does itself no favors by having its flagship carrier named China Airlines. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is eager to jump at
Denmark has consistently defended Greenland in light of US President Donald Trump’s interests and has provided unwavering support to Ukraine during its war with Russia. Denmark can be proud of its clear support for peoples’ democratic right to determine their own future. However, this democratic ideal completely falls apart when it comes to Taiwan — and it raises important questions about Denmark’s commitment to supporting democracies. Taiwan lives under daily military threats from China, which seeks to take over Taiwan, by force if necessary — an annexation that only a very small minority in Taiwan supports. Denmark has given China a
In China, competition is fierce, and in many cases suppliers do not get paid on time. Rather than improving, the situation appears to be deteriorating. BYD Co, the world’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer by production volume, has gained notoriety for its harsh treatment of suppliers, raising concerns about the long-term sustainability. The case also highlights the decline of China’s business environment, and the growing risk of a cascading wave of corporate failures. BYD generally does not follow China’s Negotiable Instruments Law when settling payments with suppliers. Instead the company has created its own proprietary supply chain finance system called the “D-chain,” through which
Last month, two major diplomatic events unfolded in Southeast Asia that suggested subtle shifts in the region’s strategic landscape. The 46th ASEAN Summit and the inaugural ASEAN-Gulf-Cooperation Council (GCC)-China Trilateral Summit in Kuala Lumpur coincided with French President Emmanuel Macron’s high-profile visits to Vietnam, Indonesia and Singapore. Together, they highlighted ASEAN’s maturing global posture, deepening regional integration and China’s intensifying efforts to recalibrate its economic diplomacy amid uncertainties posed by the US. The ASEAN summit took place amid rising protectionist policies from the US, notably sweeping tariffs on goods from Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, with duties as high as 49 percent.
RSS