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
In his National Day Rally speech on Sunday, Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) quoted the Taiwanese song One Small Umbrella (一支小雨傘) to describe his nation’s situation. Wong’s use of such a song shows Singapore’s familiarity with Taiwan’s culture and is a perfect reflection of exchanges between the two nations, Representative to Singapore Tung Chen-yuan (童振源) said yesterday in a post on Facebook. Wong quoted the song, saying: “As the rain gets heavier, I will take care of you, and you,” in Mandarin, using it as a metaphor for Singaporeans coming together to face challenges. Other Singaporean politicians have also used Taiwanese songs
NORTHERN STRIKE: Taiwanese military personnel have been training ‘in strategic and tactical battle operations’ in Michigan, a former US diplomat said More than 500 Taiwanese troops participated in this year’s Northern Strike military exercise held at Lake Michigan by the US, a Pentagon-run news outlet reported yesterday. The Michigan National Guard-sponsored drill involved 7,500 military personnel from 36 nations and territories around the world, the Stars and Stripes said. This year’s edition of Northern Strike, which concluded on Sunday, simulated a war in the Indo-Pacific region in a departure from its traditional European focus, it said. The change indicated a greater shift in the US armed forces’ attention to a potential conflict in Asia, it added. Citing a briefing by a Michigan National Guard senior
CHIPMAKING INVESTMENT: J.W. Kuo told legislators that Department of Investment Review approval would be needed were Washington to seek a TSMC board seat Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) yesterday said he received information about a possible US government investment in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and an assessment of the possible effect on the firm requires further discussion. If the US were to invest in TSMC, the plan would need to be reviewed by the Department of Investment Review, Kuo told reporters ahead of a hearing of the legislature’s Economics Committee. Kuo’s remarks came after US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Tuesday said that the US government is looking into the federal government taking equity stakes in computer chip manufacturers that
CLAMPING DOWN: At the preliminary stage on Jan. 1 next year, only core personnel of the military, the civil service and public schools would be subject to inspections Regular checks are to be conducted from next year to clamp down on military personnel, civil servants and public-school teachers with Chinese citizenship or Chinese household registration, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. Article 9-1 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) stipulates that Taiwanese who obtain Chinese household registration or a Chinese passport would be deprived of their Taiwanese citizenship and lose their right to work in the military, public service or public schools, it said. To identify and prevent the illegal employment of holders of Chinese ID cards or
RSS