Operators of pro-independence underground radio station Ocean Wire (海洋之聲) said that political motives were behind Monday’s raid by the National Communications Commission (NCC) of their offices.
The NCC earlier maintained that the shutdown was part of Premier Wu Den-yih’s (吳敦義) call last Friday for a crackdown on underground radio stations that were hawking illegal medicine to listeners.
However, the Taichung-based station said it believed its closure was a direct response by the government to the protests it organized during the talks between Straits Exchange Foundation Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) and his Chinese counterpart, Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林), last week in Taichung.
The protests included a sit-in in front of Chiang’s Nantou house in which protesters accused him of “selling out Taiwan” and “betraying his homeland,” as well as a protest in front of Taichung County’s Jenn Lann Temple (鎮瀾宮), where Chen paid a visit.
Ocean Wire chief executive Chang Chih-mei (張志梅) said he believed the station was shut down because of pressure on President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) from the Chinese government.
Recordings made from area surveillance cameras showed groups of police officers arriving at the station headquarters in Sinshe Township (新社), Taichung County on Monday at around 9:30am. Ten minutes later the station was off the air.
Pan-green politicians said yesterday that the raid was another example of the government being biased against pro-independence underground radio stations.
Taichung City Councilor Frank Liu (劉國隆) of the Taiwan Solidarity Union said the frequency of the raids on Ocean Wire was disproportionate to other underground stations in the area and questioned whether the NCC was exhibiting bias against the station.
Taichung City Councilor Cheng Kung-chin (鄭功進), a member of the Democratic Progressive Party agreed, saying the closure showed both government and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) officials were eager to punish the protesters.
Cheng Chuan-ping (鄭泉泙), director of the NCC’s Northern Regional Regulatory Department, said yesterday that Ocean Wire was only one of five illegal stations shut down on Monday.
“We applied for search warrants from the court based on Article 58 of the Telecommunications Act (電信法), which sets specific penalties for radio stations that disturb the legal use of radio waves or arbitrarily use or alter radio frequencies,” he said.
Cheng said the NCC had applied for five search warrants, including two for stations in northern Taiwan, one in the central region and two for stations in southern Taiwan. Before applying for search warrants, the NCC gathers evidence and seeks assistance from other government agencies, he said.
Cheng said the NCC cracked down on illegal radio stations every day, adding that the Control Yuan censured the commission this year for failing to deal with illegal radio stations. Cheng said that the commission has reduced the number of illegal stations from about 200 to 100.
“We don’t single out any station, nor do we leave specific stations unchecked,” Cheng said. “I think that all the 100 stations have been penalized once or twice. If there is any station that we haven’t checked, please let us know.”
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
RSS