Minister of Culture Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) yesterday said the showing of a trailer for Chinese variety show Trust in China (信中國) in Taipei’s Ximending (西門町) on Tuesday broke the law.
The video clip, which was played on jumbo-sized displays in Taipei, Beijing, Hong Kong and New York City’s Times Square, features scores of celebrities reading letters by Chinese Communist Party members.
At a news conference after a Cabinet meeting, Cheng said that the broadcaster should have obtained approval from the Ministry of Culture and the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) before airing the trailer, citing the Regulations for Advertising Goods, Labor and General Services of the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area (大陸地區物品勞務服務在臺灣地區從事廣告活動管理辦法).
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
“We have no record of ever having evaluated or approved the program,” she said.
The council is the agency charged with enforcing the regulations and the ministry would assist it in any legal action that is to follow, she added.
Executive Yuan spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) said the advertisement had not been unauthorized and that the Cabinet would ask the council to deal with it according to the law.
Asked for comment, MAC Deputy Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said the council had identified the advertising agency that aired the trailer, stopped the broadcasts and opened an inquiry.
Broadcasting or publishing political propaganda for the Chinese Communist Party is forbidden under Article 24 of the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), Chiu said.
The advertising agency failed to apply for a permit to air the trailer, he added.
In related news, at an event to mark the opening of a park, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said it is impossible for the nation to ban all Chinese advertisements, adding that such activity should be allowed on the principle of “equality and respect.”
“By equality, I mean that if [China] wants to publish advertisements here, we [Taiwan] should also be allowed to publish advertisements in [China],” Ko said, adding that he “should look into it.”
Additional reporting by Shen Pei-yao
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