A pair of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers yesterday accused the general manager of cable station TVBS, Lee Tao (
Legislators William Lai (賴清德) and Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) called on the National Communications Commission (NCC) to launch an investigation into TVBS and its political talk shows.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chiu Yi (
At a press conference yesterday, Lai and Hsu said Lee and his wife offered information about Wu to Chiu when the lawmaker was a guest on Lee's talk show and when he held press conferences at the legislature.
"Lee wanted to bring about the collapse the DPP government. His political talk show, 2100 Quan Min Kai Jiang (Speaking Your Mind at 2100) has upset social stability," Lai said.
Lai also demanded that TVBS investigate Lee and his wife to see if they have abused freedom of the press by making politically biased allegations against the government.
"If it is proven that the Lees did incite political unrest, I urge TVBS to oust them so that the media can retain its impartiality. They are just black sheep," Lai said.
Lai said the NCC was established to protect the freedom and purity of the media and he urged the commission to immediately begin an investigation to determine whether the couple acted out of malicious spite and political bias.
"If what we have said is true, then it would not be a loss [to society] if TVBS was shut down," Lai said.
Lee issued a press release yesterday afternoon defending his actions. He said he could not accept the two lawmakers' criticism because he has simply been pursuing the truth.
UPGRADE: The Kang Ding-class frigate is replacing its Chaparall missiles with Tien Chien II and Hua Yang VLS, which would provide it with long-range, 360° air defense Taiwan plans to produce 1,200 to 1,376 Hai Chien II missiles (海劍二, Sea Sword II) — also known as TC-2N — to serve as the standard air defense system of the navy’s surface combatant fleet, a source said yesterday. Last week, the Hai Chien II, the naval version of the Tien Kung II missile (天劍二, Sky Sword II), completed a live-fire test in waters off the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology’s Jiupeng facility (九鵬) in Pingtung County’s Manjhou Township (滿州). The MIM72 Chaparral and other dated air defense missiles that currently arm Taiwanese ships have inadequate range to combat Chinese
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,