The government, political parties, and officials from political parties, would be prohibited from operating and investing in local broadcast media, if the amendment to the Broadcasting and Television Law (
According to the amendment, the government would be required to release or sell their broadcast media shares six months after the amendment becomes law.
Political parties investing in or operating broadcast media would be required to sell their shares of the media organizations within three years.
Officials from political parties operating broadcast media would be required to either resign from political posts or quit their positions at the media organizations within three years.
Currently, 24.36 percent of Taiwan Television shares and 36.25 percent of Chinese Television System shares are held by the government. The KMT owns 35.59 percent of CTV's shares, while Formosa TV' s board is chaired by DPP Central Standing Committee member Trong Tsai (蔡同榮) and Global TV's board is chaired by DPP Central Standing Committee member Chang Chun-hung (張俊宏).
The Legislative Yuan's Education, Info-tech, and Judiciary committees and the Government Information Office (GIO) reached an agreement over the reform of two government-owned terrestrial TV stations -- one station will become public and the other will be privatized. Which station would be privatized or made public has yet to be decided. The final decision will be made in the Legislative Yuan.
How to eliminate the political influence from broadcast media has been a controversial issue for a long time. Academics, non-governmental organizations and lawmakers are calling on all political parties and politicians to divest themselves of their interests in media organizations.
The three committees invited GIO Director-General Arthur Iap (
Under Iap's proposal, the government would have to pay NT$1.9 billion to buy the remaining 75.64 percent stake in TTV to make it a public station, while it would earn NT$1.5 billion by selling its 36.25 percent stake in CTS. Alternatively, it could earn NT$677 million from selling its 24.36 stake in TTV, but have to pay NT$2.6 billion to buy the remaining 63.75 percent of CTS.
KMT Spokesman Justine Chou (周守訓) yesterday reacted to the amendment's first reading, saying "We will follow the law closely and sell our shares of media organizations."
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai