A new team was introduced yesterday to take over the cash-strapped Independence Evening Post (
The Post has been struggling with financial difficulties and labor-capital disputes since March. Yesterday's changing of the guard at the paper marked its fifth new management team since 1994.
Chang Fu-tai (
Wang sold the pro-independence newspaper at the symbolic price of NT$1,000 for his 78 percent share of company stock to a group of investors consisting mainly of doctors, lawyers and business leaders.
"Ten months ago, I came to take over the Post bearing a sense of mission to society and special feelings toward the Post's legacy. I have tried my best and I am utterly drained mentally from the task. Now let me withdraw with pride and introduce you to the new team," said Wang.
Under Wang, the paper reportedly lost NT$150 million.
Although declining to reveal how much new capital had been put into the newspaper, Liu told the media that "the newly-acquired capital will last at least one year."
But according to media reports, the team has already amassed NT$150 million for the task.
"It is the hope of the country that the Post does survive. Now we are here to continue the work left from Wang. We are very confident in the future of the Post, and believe it will be more creative and more in-depth in our hands," said Liu.
He added that the liberal spirit of the Post would remain, but unlike the previous focus on political news, the newspaper will provide a wider variety of information.
The new president then seized the occasion to rebut media reports that the Presidential Office and the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) -- a new political party that announced its new name and logo on Wednesday and is led by pro-Lee Teng-hui (
"The reports are utterly baseless," said Liu. But he did not rule out the possibility of TSU's future participation in the paper if "we two share similar ideologies; plus, it is always good to have more money."
Regardless of Liu's denial, there are good reasons for media speculation on an association between the new team and the TSU.
Last month, Liu -- the former director of the DPP's department of organizational development was one of the few DPP politicians invited by the political group to run in the year-end elections. Liu turned down the offer, saying he would "never leave his beloved party."
Liu said if there was any chance -- however unlikely -- for him to run in the campaign, he would manage to continue his job at the paper.
Founded in 1947 by Wu San-lien (吳三連), a prominent Taiwanese business leader strongly supporting Taiwan's pro-democracy movement, the Post was the first paper in the country to advocate "independence from political parties" during a time when Taiwan was under martial law and press freedom was only a dream.
During its 54-year history, the paper stood out from its counterparts by challenging the KMT's dominance and lending support to dissidents and non-KMT politicians alike.
GET TO SAFETY: Authorities were scrambling to evacuate nearly 700 people in Hualien County to prepare for overflow from a natural dam formed by a previous typhoon Typhoon Podul yesterday intensified and accelerated as it neared Taiwan, with the impact expected to be felt overnight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, while the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration announced that schools and government offices in most areas of southern and eastern Taiwan would be closed today. The affected regions are Tainan, Kaohsiung and Chiayi City, and Yunlin, Chiayi, Pingtung, Hualien and Taitung counties, as well as the outlying Penghu County. As of 10pm last night, the storm was about 370km east-southeast of Taitung County, moving west-northwest at 27kph, CWA data showed. With a radius of 120km, Podul is carrying maximum sustained
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday criticized the nuclear energy referendum scheduled for Saturday next week, saying that holding the plebiscite before the government can conduct safety evaluations is a denial of the public’s right to make informed decisions. Lai, who is also the chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), made the comments at the party’s Central Standing Committee meeting at its headquarters in Taipei. ‘NO’ “I will go to the ballot box on Saturday next week to cast a ‘no’ vote, as we all should do,” he said as he called on the public to reject the proposition to reactivate the decommissioned
US President Donald Trump on Friday said that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) told him China would not invade Taiwan while Trump is in office. Trump made the remarks in an interview with Fox News, ahead of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. “I will tell you, you know, you have a very similar thing with President Xi of China and Taiwan, but I don’t believe there’s any way it’s going to happen as long as I’m here. We’ll see,” Trump said during an interview on Fox News’ Special Report. “He told me: ‘I will never do
EXCEPTIONS: Some people could be allowed to reclaim citizenship for humanitarian reasons or because of their contributions to the nation, the interior ministry said Taiwan would soon unveil new rules banning Taiwanese residents of China from reclaiming their citizenship if they participated in Beijing’s propaganda activities, the Ministry of the Interior said on Monday. The measures were drafted following President William Lai’s (賴清德) March 13 directive that the government counter China’s espionage and influence campaigns aimed at undermining Taiwan’s sovereignty, the ministry said in a preview of the rules. The changes would affect Taiwanese who lost their citizenship after becoming permanent residents of China or obtaining passports issued by China, it said. Under the measures, former Taiwanese nationals living in China who had made statements denying the
RSS