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.
Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr arrived in Taiwan last night to kick off his first visit to the country since beginning his second term earlier this year. After arriving at Taoyuan International Airport at around 6:30 pm, Whipps and his delegation were welcomed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍). Speaking to gathered media, the Palauan leader said he was excited and honored to be back in Taiwan on his first state visit to Taiwan since he was sworn in this January. Among those traveling with Whipps is Minister of State Gustav N. Aitaro, Public Infrastructure
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday thanked Palau for its continued support of Taiwan's international participation, as Taipei was once again excluded from the World Health Assembly (WHA) currently taking place in Switzerland. "Palau has never stopped voicing support for Taiwan" in the UN General Assembly, the WHO and other UN-affiliated agencies, Lai said during a bilateral meeting with visiting Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr. "We have been profoundly touched by these endorsements," Lai said, praising the Pacific island nation's firm support as "courageous." Lai's remarks came as Taiwan was excluded for the ninth consecutive year from the WHA, which is being held in
RESOLUTIONS DEBATE: Taiwan’s allies said that UN and WHA resolutions cited by China and other nations ‘do not determine Taiwan’s participation in WHO activities’ A proposal to invite Taiwan to this year’s World Health Assembly (WHA) was rejected on Monday, resulting in Taipei’s absence from the annual meeting for a ninth consecutive year, although partners spoke up for Taiwan’s participation at the first day of the meeting. The first agenda item after the opening was a “two-on-two debate” on a proposal to invite Taiwan to participate at the WHA as an observer. Similar to previous years, two countries made statements in favor of the proposal, while two others expressed their opposition. Philippine Secretary of Health Teodoro Herbosa, president of the 78th WHA, accepted the WHA General Committee’s
At least three people died and more than a dozen were injured yesterday afternoon when a vehicle struck a group of pedestrians in New Taipei City’s Sansia District (三峽). The incident happened at about 4pm when a car rammed into pedestrians at an intersection near Bei Da Elementary School. Witnesses said the sedan, being driven at a high speed, ran a red light, knocking scooters out of the way and hitting students crossing the road before careening into a median near the intersection of Guocheng and Guoguang streets. The incident resulted in three deaths and 13 injuries, including the driver, a 78-year-old man
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