DPP Legislator Trong Chai (
Chai announced his resignation yesterday afternoon in a press conference after attending a meeting with the board of directors. Chai, the founder of the TV station, will be succeeded by the company's vice chairman, Tien Tsai-ting (
"To comply with the DPP's long-standing policy of freeing the media of political influence, I've actually been prepared to withdraw from Formosa TV for a long time and have talked this matter over with the president," Chai said.
"I am more interested in politics and my involvement in the TV industry is just a sideline to my political career. Therefore, it is impossible for me to quit my main job as a legislator," he said.
"I sincerely hope that Chen will be re-elected next year. My resignation will play an important part of [realizing] Chen's promise to the public," Chai said.
Chai founded Formosa TV in 1996, a station known for its pro-DPP stance.
While promising to quit his media post, Chai urged the KMT yesterday to withdraw from the operations of the China Television Company (
The KMT is the dominant shareholder in both companies.
DPP Secretary-General Chang Chun-hsiung (
Chang said the resignation is a responsible action and shows Chai's commitment to the DPP, adding Chai is a member of DPP's Central Standing Committee.
Tien, the new chairman, said yesterday, "Though Chai has resigned, we still see a very slow withdrawal of political and military forces from the media. We hope that Chai's resignation will serve as a model for other parties and politicians who are still involved in the media.
"We appreciate Chai's contributions and efforts for Formosa TV, where he built a unique broadcasting culture," Tien said.
Prior to Chai's announcement, local media reported that the Presidential Office had tried to interfere with the appointment of the new chairman, as it was allegedly not satisfied with Tien taking over.
The report said Chai was supposed to meet with Chen yesterday morning and inform the president of his decision. However, the meeting was canceled as Chen didn't want to accept Chai's favor, the report said.
"It was just a miscommunication between the Presidential Office and me about the time of the meeting," Chai said.
Presidential Office spokesman James Huang (
"We disagreed with the contents of the report, which is biased and misleading," Huang said.
Huang said the president's goal is to remove political influence from the media and, therefore, would not interfere himself.
In a Central Standing Committee meeting on June 11, the DPP delivered its ultimatum that all party members must relinquish control in media industries before Sept. 5.
NO LIVERPOOL TRIP: Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, who won a gold medal in the boxing at the Paris Olympics, was embroiled in controversy about her gender at that event Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting (林郁婷) will not attend this year’s World Boxing Championships in Liverpool, England, due to a lack of response regarding her sex tests from the organizer, World Boxing. The national boxing association on Monday said that it had submitted all required tests to World Boxing, but had not received a response as of Monday, the departure day for the championships. It said the decision for Lin to skip the championships was made to protect its athletes, ensuring they would not travel to the UK without a guarantee of participation. Lin, who won a gold medal in the women’s 57kg boxing
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,
‘NOT ALONE’: A Taiwan Strait war would disrupt global trade routes, and could spark a worldwide crisis, so a powerful US presence is needed as a deterrence, a US senator said US Senator Deb Fischer on Thursday urged her colleagues in the US Congress to deepen Washington’s cooperation with Taiwan and other Indo-Pacific partners to contain the global security threat from China. Fischer and other lawmakers recently returned from an official trip to the Indo-Pacific region, where they toured US military bases in Hawaii and Guam, and visited leaders, including President William Lai (賴清德). The trip underscored the reality that the world is undergoing turmoil, and maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region is crucial to the security interests of the US and its partners, she said. Her visit to Taiwan demonstrated ways the
The US has revoked Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) authorization to freely ship essential gear to its main Chinese chipmaking base, potentially curtailing its production capabilities at that older-generation facility. American officials recently informed TSMC of their decision to end the Taiwanese chipmaker’s so-called validated end user (VEU) status for its Nanjing site. The action mirrors steps the US took to revoke VEU designations for China facilities owned by Samsung Electronics Co and SK Hynix Inc. The waivers are set to expire in about four months. “TSMC has received notification from the US Government that our VEU authorization for TSMC Nanjing
RSS