The Taiwan Solidarity Union's (TSU) legislative caucus yesterday dismissed talk that former president Lee Teng-hui (
TSU caucus whip Mark Ho (
"Whether Wu intends to buy TTV is a question that we do not have an answer for," Ho said. "The former president is not aware of the deal nor are we. We definitely did not play any part in it."
Ho made the remark in response to a media report claiming that with the approval of Lee, TTV chairman Lai Kuo-chou (賴國洲), who is also Lee's son-in-law, invited Wu to purchase TTV.
Meanwhile, media watch groups yesterday called on the government to make good on its promise to free the media from political, partisan and military influence by the end of the year and privatize two government-owned terrestrial TV stations while turning the other into a public corporation.
Taiwan has one public television station, Public Television Service (PTS, 公視), and four terrestrial TV stations. They are the TTV, Chinese Television System (CTS, 華視), China Television Company (CTV, 中視) and Formosa Television Company (FTV, 民視).
While FTV is a privately run firm, the other three terrestrial stations have very strong partisan ties.
While the government owns 25.64 percent of TTV, it possesses 36.25 percent of CTS. The stakes in both companies long predate the DPP administration.
The Broadcasting and Television Law (
Speculation is mounting that the Government Information Office (GIO) has not ruled out the possibility of putting TTV and CTS to a trust.
Kuang Chung-hsiang (
"Slogans are not enough, we want to see some concrete action," Kuang said. "As four GIO heads have promised to push for media reform, we'd like to see at least CTS become a public corporation if the government cannot turn TTV into one -- taking into account the government's financial strain."
Wei Ti (魏玓), convener of the Campaign for Media Reform, said his association would accept the government's plan to turn CTS into a public corporation and to privatize TTV, but it would like to see TTV's programs digitalized and catalogued in the national archives.
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
Reports of Taiwanese going missing, being detained or interrogated, or having their personal liberties restricted in China increased about fourfold annually last year, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. Last year, 221 Taiwanese who traveled to China were reported missing, were detained and interrogated, or otherwise had their personal freedom restricted, up from 55 the previous year, the council said. Reopening group tours to China would be risky, as it would leave travelers with no way to seek help through official channels after Beijing shut down dialogue between the associations tasked with handling cross-strait tourism, the MAC said. Taipei’s Taiwan Strait Tourism
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
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