Chai equivocates on his position in television station

DPP Legislator Trong Chai (蔡同榮) was still undecided on whether to give up his job as chairman of Formosa Television (FTV) yesterday, a day after he finished an eight-day European trip.

"I thought about whether to step down from the post during the trip to Europe, but no decision has been made," Chai told the Taipei Times.

"Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) said that I shouldn't step down from the post and I take his advice seriously," he added.

Chai departed for Europe on Feb. 11, the day after a deadline which he had set himself to decide the issue.

His departure also meant he missed a meeting of the DPP Central Standing Committee, of which he is a member, that decided to press ahead with plans to remove political and military influences from the media.

In an interview published Monday morning on ET Today, an Internet news site, the former president complained that President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) plans for judicial and media reform would encounter problems unless the president could explain what he meant by "reform."

Lee said that the number of pro-independence media organizations is "smaller" than that of pro-unification media organizations in Taiwan.

"This being so, how can Chen force Chai to step down from his position as Formosa's chairman?" Lee told ET Today.

He said yesterday that he had no timetable for deciding and that he needed more time.

In response, Lee Ying-yuan (李應元), DPP deputy secretary-general, said that since the party's Central Standing Committee had passed a resolution on the issue, all party members were required to abide by that resolution.

"We'll give him [Chai] some time to make his decision, but following the party's decision is every party member's responsibility," Lee said.