Former president Lee Teng-hui (
TaiwaneseVoice.net, a Web-based radio station with ambitions to branch out into video as well, is aimed at promoting a Taiwanese consciousness and voice for Taiwan as an independent country.
"The pro-unification media have been manipulating [Taiwan's politics] behind the scenes, and have been a tool of political struggles and social conflicts," Lee said at yesterday's ceremony. "They have completely forgotten the media's social responsibility for fairness and justice."
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
Lee and Lu attended the ceremony as special guests. The former president promised to host a talk show for the radio station in the future when it becomes possible for the company to broadcast both sound and image.
According to the company, the name and content of Lee's talk show is still under discussion. Still, the station has decided to install the necessary equipment at Lee's house to help get the program on the air.
"The Web site will help voice Taiwan's strong desire to participate in international organizations and the international community, and will help gain international support and understanding," Lee said.
Huang Erh-hsuan (
"If our voice is not heard, we won't have any chance of getting out of our current difficult position. This Web site will serve to balance local media bias [against Taiwan] and broadcast our voices out of Taiwan," Huang said.
The Internet radio station will broadcast programs about Taiwanese culture, history and language in an effort to promote understanding and knowledge of Taiwan. It will also cooperate with Formosa TV station and broadcast the channel's news programs online.
Programs will be in Chinese, Hokkien and English. The company has also set up studios in Tokyo and Los Angles, which will produce shows on the two cities' pop cultures.
In addition to promoting Taiwanese consciousness to the world, the Web site will work with Tibetan independence activists and set up the "Tibet Channel." The channel will offer information about the Tibetan independence movement and updated news about the Dalai Lama.
The station's staff said yesterday the radio station is scheduled to interview the Dalai Lama in December.
Many heavyweight activists in favor of Taiwan's independence -- such as historian Su Beng (史明) and Lee Hung-hsi (李鴻禧), law professor at National Taiwan University -- as well as many DPP key members, such as Cabinet Secretary-General Lee Ying-yuan (李應元), attended yesterday's ceremony to show their support for the radio station.
The vice president yesterday called on the public to stop debating unification and independence, saying that Taiwan is already an independent country.
"What we need to do is to unify our country, which is in danger of splitting, in terms of culture and political beliefs," Lu said.
"There are no more indigenous Taiwanese (本省人) or mainlanders (外省人). Instead, there are compatriots and foreigners in this country. Taiwan is facing a crisis," Lu warned.
RESPONSE: The transit sends a message that China’s alignment with other countries would not deter the West from defending freedom of navigation, an academic said Canadian frigate the Ville de Quebec and Australian guided-missile destroyer the Brisbane transited the Taiwan Strait yesterday morning, the first time the two nations have conducted a joint freedom of navigation operation. The Canadian and Australian militaries did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Ministry of National Defense declined to confirm the passage, saying only that Taiwan’s armed forces had deployed surveillance and reconnaissance assets, along with warships and combat aircraft, to safeguard security across the Strait. The two vessels were observed transiting northward along the eastern side of the Taiwan Strait’s median line, with Japan being their most likely destination,
GLOBAL ISSUE: If China annexes Taiwan, ‘it will not stop its expansion there, as it only becomes stronger and has more force to expand further,’ the president said China’s military and diplomatic expansion is not a sole issue for Taiwan, but one that risks world peace, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that Taiwan would stand with the alliance of democratic countries to preserve peace through deterrence. Lai made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). “China is strategically pushing forward to change the international order,” Lai said, adding that China established the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, launched the Belt and Road Initiative, and pushed for yuan internationalization, because it wants to replace the democratic rules-based international
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
RELEASED: Ko emerged from a courthouse before about 700 supporters, describing his year in custody as a period of ‘suffering’ and vowed to ‘not surrender’ Former Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was released on NT$70 million (US$2.29 million) bail yesterday, bringing an end to his year-long incommunicado detention as he awaits trial on corruption charges. Under the conditions set by the Taipei District Court on Friday, Ko must remain at a registered address, wear a GPS-enabled ankle monitor and is prohibited from leaving the country. He is also barred from contacting codefendants or witnesses. After Ko’s wife, Peggy Chen (陳佩琪), posted bail, Ko was transported from the Taipei Detention Center to the Taipei District Court at 12:20pm, where he was fitted with the tracking
RSS