A private media watchdog group associated with the pro-independence movement yesterday urged people not to watch news produced by CTiTV, saying the station's coverage is biased and that there is no sign that it is trying to improve this tendency.
Taiwan Bugle Society chairman Chung Nien-huang (鍾年晃) and political commentator Frances Huang (黃光芹) yesterday held a press conference criticizing CTiTV's failure to respond to the group's previous criticism.
Ten days ago, the group asked CTiTV to address its "partisan and unbalanced" news coverage of the campaign to depose President Chen Shui-bian (
Chung said CTiTV has yet to show any intention of reacting to this request and has continued to show biased coverage of the anti-Chen campaign.
During the press conference, Chung played TV news footage broadcast by CTiTV news on Sept. 9, the first day that the anti-Chen campaign began, and drew attention to the fact that the station said that the number of rally participants increased from 200,000 to 300,000 in only seven seconds.
The group also criticized CTiTV talk show host Sisy Chen (
"It is ridiculous for a person who resorts to violence to blast the evil of violence," Chung said.
"It is obvious that CTiTV attempts to overstate the impact of the anti-Chen campaign, and has tried to add fuel to the flames," he said. "We urge the advertisers to boycott news produced by CTiTV and viewers not to watch CTiTV."
Huang also said that CTiTV's chief news editor Liao Fu-shun (
"How can we believe it when CTiTV claims it has no specific political stance?" Huang said.
In response, CTiTV said it would not react to an appeal that it considers "far from objective."
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
About 4.2 million tourist arrivals were recorded in the first half of this year, a 10 percent increase from the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The growth continues to be consistent, with the fourth quarter of this year expected to be the peak in Taiwan, the agency said, adding that it plans to promote Taiwan overseas via partnerships and major events. From January to June, 9.14 million international departures were recorded from Taiwan, an 11 percent increase from the same period last year, with 3.3 million headed for Japan, 1.52 million for China and 832,962 to South Korea,
REWRITING HISTORY: China has been advocating a ‘correct’ interpretation of the victory over Japan that brings the CCP’s contributions to the forefront, an expert said An elderly Chinese war veteran’s shin still bears the mark of a bullet wound he sustained when fighting the Japanese as a teenager, a year before the end of World War II. Eighty years on, Li Jinshui’s scar remains as testimony to the bravery of Chinese troops in a conflict that killed millions of their people. However, the story behind China’s overthrow of the brutal Japanese occupation is deeply contested. Historians broadly agree that credit for victory lies primarily with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-led Republic of China (ROC) Army. Its leader, Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a