The Cabinet yesterday suspended the National Communications Commission's (NCC) approval of the Broadcasting Corporation of China's (BCC) application to transfer its shares to companies allegedly owned by former UFO Radio chairman Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康).
"The deal was illegal. It is obvious that some NCC members allegedly made the decision in favor of Jaw," Minister without Portfolio Hsu Chih-hsiung (許志雄) said.
"We will also refer five NCC members to the judiciary," he said.
The five NCC members Hsu referred to are Chairman Su Yeong-ching (蘇永欽), spokesman Howard Shyr (石世豪) and members Liu Zong-de (劉宗德), Lin Tung-tai (林東泰) and Hsieh Chin-nan (謝進男).
Hsu made his remarks during a press conference yesterday.
Hsu said that the deal violated the Broadcasting and Television Law (廣播電視法), because although the BCC transferred and sold its shares to four companies, Jaw was the owner of the four companies and the law stipulates that an individual is not allowed to hold a majority of a radio station's shares.
In addition, the four companies spent just NT$100 million (US$3 million) to acquire 90 percent of BCC's shares, but the shares were estimated to be worth at least NT$3.2 billion, Hsu said.
"We believe this is a breach of trust," he said. "Obviously, there is something wrong with this deal, so we have decided to suspend it and refer it to the judiciary," he said.
Cabinet Spokesman Shieh Jhy-wey (
The government also suspended the company's licenses for its "Formosa Network" and "Music Network," two radio frequencies first given to the BCC to broadcast anti-communist propaganda.
The case has aroused controversy since June 26, when the NCC approved the share transfer. The NCC also approved the BCC's application to change the chairman of its board, a change that enabled Jaw to become chairman of the station.
The BCC was sold by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) on Dec. 24 to China Times Group subsidiary Jungli Investment in a NT$9.3 billion deal that included China Television and Central Motion Picture Corp.
Jaw then bought the BCC shares from Hua Hsia Investment Holding, which has been alleged to manage assets for the KMT.
The NCC issued a ruling before the Lunar New Year holiday this year to ask Jaw to fulfill several requirements before the two applications could be approved, including returning the radio frequencies.
Responding to the Executive Yuan's ruling, Su said that the NCC would petition for a constitutional interpretation on the administrative authority of an independent organization.
Meanwhile, the NCC would ask the Grand Council of Justices to review the constitutionality of the Executive Yuan's operational guidelines for dealing with independent organizations, he said.
Su said that the commission would also officially notify the Executive Yuan that the NCC's ruling on the BCC case remained valid.
Su said that the commission had tried every means possible to investigate the BCC transaction, but emphasized that the commission was not authorized to look into other aspects of the deal.
"The commission only asked whether overseas investors were involved and if political parties, the government or the military had any part in the transaction," he said.
Su also said that the Government Information Office (GIO) was not qualified to criticize the NCC for failing to take back the two radio frequencies.
"Over the past seven years, it [the GIO] has had opportunities to take back those frequencies, but all eight ministers who have presided over this endeavor have done absolutely nothing," he said.
Shyr pointed to what he perceived as ludicrous allegations in the GIO's press releases.
Shyr said that while Shieh claimed he had been looking into the BCC deal for four months, in the past week Shieh's statement had changed from "it is affirmed that NCC members are suspected of misconduct" to "the NCC might be suspected of misconduct."
Shieh also changed his statement when he referred to the evidence of misconduct -- from "solid evidence" to "media reports," Shyr said.
Meanwhile, Jaw went to the Taipei District Prosecutors' Office yesterday to file a lawsuit against Shieh and Hsu.
"I accuse the pair of slander, offenses relating to the protection of secrets and the Law for the Protection of Computer-managed Personal Information (電腦處理個人資料保護法)," Jaw told reporters.
He said the pair alleged he had spent between NT$600 million and NT$700 million to buy the BCC, but he had spent several times that amount.
He said that the pair accused him of using front companies to buy the BCC, but these were real companies.
He said he did not accept the Executive Yuan's suspension order and would file a lawsuit to Taipei High Administrative Court.
In response to the Cabinet's decision, the KMT caucus threatened to sue Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (
KMT Legislator Hsu Shao-ping (
"The KMT believes the Cabinet is not the superior of the NCC," she said.
"The Cabinet ignored the Grand Justices' interpretation. We plan to sue Chang Chun-hsiung and Shieh Jhy-wey in a bid to defend the nation's democratic and constitutional mechanisms," she said.
Additional reporting by Flora Wang and Rich Chang
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
AMENDMENT: Climate change is expected to increase the frequency of high-temperature days, affecting economic productivity and public health, experts said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) is considering amending the Meteorological Act (氣象法) to classify “high temperatures” as “hazardous weather,” providing a legal basis for work or school closures due to extreme heat. CWA Administrator Lu Kuo-chen (呂國臣) yesterday said the agency plans to submit the proposed amendments to the Executive Yuan for review in the fourth quarter this year. The CWA has been monitoring high-temperature trends for an extended period, and the agency contributes scientific data to the recently established High Temperature Response Alliance led by the Ministry of Environment, Lu said. The data include temperature, humidity, radiation intensity and ambient wind,
SECOND SPEECH: All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist the CCP, despite their differences, the president said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday discussed how pro-Taiwan and pro-Republic of China (ROC) groups can agree to maintain solidarity on the issue of protecting Taiwan and resisting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The talk, delivered last night at Taoyuan’s Hakka Youth Association, was the second in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. Citing Taiwanese democracy pioneer Chiang Wei-shui’s (蔣渭水) slogan that solidarity brings strength, Lai said it was a call for political parties to find consensus amid disagreements on behalf of bettering the nation. All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist