Government bans VCD that mocks the PFP chairman

The Government Information Office (GIO) yesterday said it would order local governments to confiscate copies of a VCD that makes fun of People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜).

The VCD, called Special Report, features several well-known actors speaking Taiwanese mocking Soong and number of PFP members.

"The VCD is regarded as illegal because it did not go through administrative process to obtain a circulation license from the GIO," said GIO Director-General Huang Hui-chen (黃輝珍).

"Local governments therefore have to enforce a ban on this VCD according to the law," he said in response to questions from Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊櫻).

The VCD, produced by a group that calls itself "Taiwan Media Revolution Studio," portrays Soong, KMT Chairman Lien Chan's (連戰) running mate in the upcoming presidential election, as suffering from a kind of cancer called "power-hungry."

The PFP on Wednesday sued the producer of the VCD for slander, claiming that the VCD had defamed its party members.

The Southern Taiwan Society yesterday denied the pan-blue camp's accusation that it was the one behind the VCD's production.

The group said that it took no part in producing or financing the VCD.

"The group only helped with the promotion of the VCD," said Tzeng Kuei-hai (曾貴海), chairman of the Southern Taiwan Society.

Given its lack of human resources, the group had stopped promoting the VCD, Tzeng added.

"We support the Special Report on the basis of freedom of speech," said Tzeng, adding that the group also shared the VCD producers' concerns of biased reporting by pro-unification media.

Tzeng called on Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), a KMT vice chairman, to realize his pledge of free speech.

Tzeng was referring to the Taipei City Government's moves to stop sales of the VCD on Wednesday.

Defending the move, city government spokesperson Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) argued that the ban was conducted according to the Broadcasting and Television Law (廣電法) and that the ban on the VCD was not based on its content.

A Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) lawmaker said that Soong's anger over the VCD was a result of his ignorance of Taiwanese culture.

"Soong's rage over the widely circulated VCD making fun of his desire for the presidency exemplifies that he has no idea about the native Taiwanese sense of humor. The meaning of the double-entendre in Taiwanese in the VCD was not really scurrilous as the PFP chairman had said," TSU Legislator Chien Lin Whei-jun (錢林慧君) said.

She said that she had received calls from numerous supporters to complain about Soong's criticism of the VCD.

"They felt that Soong overstated the VCD and actually inspired their curiosity. They also blamed the PFP chairman for his exaggeration that drove them to buy the disc," Chien Lin said.