KMT lambasted by its partner at the Power TV station

The Hsiang Shan Group (象山集團) yesterday officially condemned its co-financier at Power TV -- the KMT -- for doing nothing to ease the company's financial crises.

The condemnation follows days of rancor played out in the media and raises more questions than answers in regard to future cooperation between the two.

Addressing the dispute, Hsiang Shan Group attorney Ting Chung-yuan (丁中原) officially condemned the KMT's "insincere attitude" in regard to helping Power TV through its financial difficulties, saying that the party, which owns 50 percent of the TV station, should pay more than lip service and take some financial responsibility for the station's problems.

"The KMT has been saying it hopes to see Power TV sustain its operations, but it has never attempted to take any concrete action to help the company through its financial crisis. We have serious doubts about the KMT's attitude," Ding said.

Shortly after the Hsiang Shan Group's press conference, the KMT held a press conference of its own, reacting to the condemnation.

"We are sorry for Power TV's financial crisis, but due to regulations, we can't give direct financial aid," said KMT spokesman Wu Ching-ji (吳清基).

Wu said the restrictions were due to the fact that the investment was made through holding companies.

Speculation about the TV station's financial health has been circulating for weeks. Power TV delayed last month's salary payments to employees until Tuesday, when Hsiang Shan Group President Chiang Tao-sheng (江道生) contributed NT$9 million of his own to the station.

Local Chinese language daily newspapers have criticized the group's handling of the station through anonymous sources over the past few days. Most of the reports said that the KMT has little control over Power TV.

They also charged that the party is largely unaware of how the station operates and that the Hsiang Shan Group takes advantage of its control of TV station.

The Hsiang Shan Group re-sponded to those reports yesterday, with Ting claiming that the KMT fed the media false information.

Ting denied most of the reports, saying that the KMT has four of nine seats on the TV station's board and that the party knows every detail about decision making at the station.

"The KMT has had someone monitoring the TV station's op-erations since 1997. Can they seriously claim to be out of the loop?" Ting argued.

The KMT, however, said it would support allowing a new investor at the TV station during a board meeting on April 23.

Next month, Quilvest, a Canadian company, will become the third co-owner of the group after agreeing to invest NT$698 million (US$20 million).

According to the station, the group and the KMT have each invested NT$1.4 billion.