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Hong Kong-based TV station wins right to broadcast following appeal

Government authorities will allow Hong Kong-based Phoenix Television to broadcast here again despite being a China-funded and pro-Beijing network, a report said yesterday.

Phoenix TV was expected to restart broadcasts in Taiwan as early as next year after it is granted approval from government regulators, a local Chinese-language newspaper cited station chairman Liu Changle (劉長樂) as saying.

Its permission to broadcast was revoked last year after a test run of its news programs was deemed pro-China and lacking objectivity, the newspaper said.

Phoenix took legal action against the government over the revocation of the license and the ruling came down recently in favor of the television station, the paper cited Arthur Iap (葉國興), director general of the Government Information Office, as saying.

The ruling was on the grounds that Phoenix's permission should not be revoked based on its test run programs, the newspaper said.

Phoenix, funded by Hong Kong-based Star Television and Chinese investors, some linked to China's state-owned enterprises, has some 160 million viewers in China, in addition to those in Hong Kong, the report said.

Liu told the paper in an interview that Phoenix would be able to expand its advertising revenues after entering Taiwan, which was expected to allow Chinese advertisements in Taiwan soon.

Phoenix is the second most popular satellite television station in China after the state-run Central Chinese Television.
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