The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus yesterday accused the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus of politicizing the controversy of SET-TV's use of footage shot in Shanghai in its special report commemorating the 60th anniversary of the 228 Incident.
"Everyone hates fabricated news stories, but SET-TV only used the wrong footage in the special report about the 228 Incident. Using the wrong footage is not the equivalent of fabricating a news story," DPP caucus whip Wang Sing-nan (
"The KMT cannot deny its history of killing people in Taiwan by attacking SET-TV's application of the Shanghai footage in its special report about the 228 Incident," he said.
PHOTO: CNA
"The protest by KMT politicians outside the TV station [on Tuesday night] will only lead to the division of ethnic communities in Taiwan," he said.
The 228 Incident refers to the uprising that began on Feb. 27, 1947, against the KMT regime.
The KMT crushed the uprising by killing tens of thousands of Taiwanese.
SET-TV broadcast the series of special reports on the 228 Incident from March 3 through March 7. The 13 episodes were part of a program called Formosa Notes anchored by the SET-TV news chief editor Chen Ya-lin (
The Chinese-language United Daily News on Tuesday said that SET-TV had passed off an image of a KMT officer executing a Chinese Communist Party member in Shanghai in 1948 as that of a Taiwanese being killed by the KMT during the 228 Incident.
At a press conference yesterday, KMT Legislator Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) said: "There is a saying that when a lie is told 1,000 times, it becomes a truth. This was SET-TV's motive for the special report -- to make people think of the KMT when the brutal image comes to mind."
Meanwhile, a group of KMT lawmakers demanded yesterday that the Government Information Office (GIO) suspend its plan to make copies of the program and release them to schools.
The KMT said that the DPP had likely pushed the GIO to make the special report as SET-TV secured an NT$960,000 contract from the government to make the series.
GIO Director Lin Chin-sheng (林進盛) dismissed the accusation, saying that it was the 228 Memorial Foundation's proposal to make the series and that the GIO had never interfered with SET-TV's after the station took on the project.
In a meeting of People First Party lawmakers, Lin said that the GIO would not payment to SET-TV unless it correct the errors in the special report.
Pan-blue lawmakers' reactions to the series irritated victims of the 228 Incident and their family members, prompting them to call a press conference to voice support for SET-TV.
"We want to thank SET-TV for making the special report on the 228 Incident. While the image was not about 228 Incident, many Taiwanese people were killed in exactly the same way as that shown in the film," Chang Chiu-wu (
Director-general of the Taiwan 228 Union Chou Chen-thai (
Chou added that he admired SET-TV for broadcasting the report.
TRAFFIC SAFETY RULES: A positive result in a drug test would result in a two-year license suspension for the driver and vehicle, and a fine of up to NT$180,000 The Ministry of Transportation and Communications is to authorize police to conduct roadside saliva tests by the end of the year to deter people from driving while under the influence of narcotics, it said yesterday. The ministry last month unveiled a draft of amended regulations governing traffic safety rules and penalties, which included provisions empowering police to conduct mandatory saliva tests on drivers. While currently rules authorize police to use oral fluid testing kits for signs of drug use, they do not establish penalties for noncompliance or operating procedures for officers to follow, the ministry said. The proposed changes to the regulations require
The Executive Yuan yesterday announced that registration for a one-time universal NT$10,000 cash handout to help people in Taiwan survive US tariffs and inflation would start on Nov. 5, with payouts available as early as Nov. 12. Who is eligible for the handout? Registered Taiwanese nationals are eligible, including those born in Taiwan before April 30 next year with a birth certificate. Non-registered nationals with residence permits, foreign permanent residents and foreign spouses of Taiwanese citizens with residence permits also qualify for the handouts. For people who meet the eligibility requirements, but passed away between yesterday and April 30 next year, surviving family members
Taiwanese officials are courting podcasters and influencers aligned with US President Donald Trump as they grow more worried the US leader could undermine Taiwanese interests in talks with China, people familiar with the matter said. Trump has said Taiwan would likely be on the agenda when he is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) next week in a bid to resolve persistent trade tensions. China has asked the White House to officially declare it “opposes” Taiwanese independence, Bloomberg reported last month, a concession that would mark a major diplomatic win for Beijing. President William Lai (賴清德) and his top officials
The German city of Hamburg on Oct. 14 named a bridge “Kaohsiung-Brucke” after the Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung. The footbridge, formerly known as F566, is to the east of the Speicherstadt, the world’s largest warehouse district, and connects the Dar-es-Salaam-Platz to the Brooktorpromenade near the Port of Hamburg on the Elbe River. Timo Fischer, a Free Democratic Party member of the Hamburg-Mitte District Assembly, in May last year proposed the name change with support from members of the Social Democratic Party and the Christian Democratic Union. Kaohsiung and Hamburg in 1999 inked a sister city agreement, but despite more than a quarter-century of
RSS