A Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator yesterday accused the National Communications Commission (NCC) of abusing its authority by requiring Elta Technology Co to deal with the matter of the stake held by Delta Electronics Inc within three months.
KMT Legislator Alex Tsai (蔡正元) told a press conference at the Legislative Yuan it was “ridiculous” for the NCC to demand that Elta Technology ask that Delta, which owns a 12.64 percent stake in Elta, based on the commission’s assertion that Delta Electronics is a “government-funded business.”
Tsai said the NCC argued that Delta Electronics should not have been allowed to invest in Elta Technology, a local content aggregator set up by Chunghwa Telecom Co, as all media outlets should be free from influence from any political party, the military or the government as stipulated in the Satellite Broadcasting Law (衛星廣播電視法).
Tsai questioned the NCC’s definition of what constitutes “government-funded businesses,” saying that only 3.29 percent of the shares in Delta Electronics were held by three government-managed funds, including the Labor Pension Fund (勞退基金) and the Civil Servants’ Pension Fund (退撫基金).
“The NCC overinterpreted the law by regarding companies in which the government holds any investment as government-funded businesses,” Tsai said.
Huang Chin-yi (黃金益), deputy director of the NCC’s Operational Administration Department, said that the Legislative Yuan passed a regulation in 2003 prohibiting political parties, the military and the government from attempting to influence any media outlet.
He said that while Delta Electronics’ investment did not constitute a violation, as the government did not own more than 50 percent of Delta Electronics’ stock, the commission needed to apply the strictest possible standards to prevent the possibility of state interference in any media outlet.
“The organic statutes of the managing committees of the government-managed funds all show that the committees have some affiliation with the government,” Huang said.
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