Grace Liao (廖筱君), host of SET-TV’s New Taiwan Go Go Go (新台灣加油), the successor to popular political TV talk show Talking Show (大話新聞), famous for its criticism of the government and China, confirmed her resignation on Friday, allegedly due to increasing pressure by the Chinese government on the show’s editorial autonomy.
“I don’t feel at all sleepy even though I have been awake the entire night. Making this decision was not an easy task, but after doing so, there is a sense of relief … We will meet another day and until then, we will fight for this land called Taiwan,” Liao said in a Facebook post at about 4am on Friday.
SET-TV spokesperson Chang Cheng-fen (張正芬) also confirmed Liao’s resignation, saying Liao was assigned to her current post at a critical moment after Talking Show host Cheng Hung-yi (鄭弘儀) left the program in May. Liao tendered her resignation for family reasons, Chang said.
Photo: Chen Yi-chuen, Taipei Times
Allegedly, Liao had originally decided to break the news of her departure during the show’s live broadcast on Thursday, but called in sick that afternoon after rumors of her resignation emerged earlier than expected.
Former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator and political commentator Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) filled in for Liao on Friday’s program.
Liao’s abrupt resignation has given rise to further speculation about Chinese influence in Taiwan-based television stations, particularly after Cheng also cited “family reasons” for his resignation.
At the time, most analysts linked his departure to China’s growing pressure on SET-TV, which has been attempting to break into the Chinese market.
According to a source familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity, Liao submitted her resignation after her relationship with the station ran aground over a number of sensitive issues.
The station had reportedly planned to get rid of all the regular guests on Talking Show following its suspension in May. However, Liao insisted on keeping some of them, including veteran journalist Wu Kuo-tung (吳國棟) and Soochow University political science professor Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明), to maintain the show’s audience base.
Liao allegedly further displeased the station’s management when she persisted in covering issues related to the recent student protests against the acquisition of Next Media’s four outlets in Taiwan by a consortium including Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明), chairman of Want Want China Times Group — which already owns many major media outlets such as the Chinese-language China Times.
Despite attracting a large audience, the topics were deemed taboo by both China and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), the source said.
Another source said political pressure from China has only increased following Cheng’s departure and all subjects covered in New Taiwan Go Go Go must be vetted before being aired.
“The show is barred from touching upon any issues pertaining to China, or airing criticism of the KMT administration,” the source said.
Citing as an example, the source said that former DPP legislator Lee Wen-chung (李文忠), who had been on the show several times, was blacklisted by the station’s senior management after making a reference on the show to the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) denial of visits by the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and World Uyghur Congress president Rebiya Kadeer.
“Such suppression of free speech was also seen when Liao was forbidden from discussing human rights issues involving Liu Xia (劉霞), the wife of imprisoned Chinese dissident and Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo (劉曉波), who recently lamented in tears her confinement under house arrest in a media interview,” the source said.
Blasting what he called China’s brutal smothering of Taiwanese television programs, an anonymous whistleblower accused the Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) of China’s State Council of monitoring and exerting its influence on a number of political talk shows in Taiwan.
According to the whistleblower, SET-TV has allegedly made some promises to TAO deputy director Sun Yafu (孫亞夫) who engaged in pro-unification rhetoric at a two-day forum on cross-strait relations in Taipei last week when the latter recently visited the TV station.
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
An SOS message in a bottle has been found in Ireland that is believed to have come from the Taiwanese captain of fishing vessel Yong Yu Sing No. 18 (永裕興18號), who has been missing without a trace for over four years, along with nine Indonesian crew members. The vessel, registered to Suao (蘇澳), went missing near Hawaii on Dec. 30, 2020. The ship has since been recovered, but the 10 crew members have never been found. The captain, surnamed Lee (李), is believed to have signed the note with his name. A post appeared on Reddit on Tuesday after a man
A saleswoman, surnamed Chen (陳), earlier this month was handed an 18-month prison term for embezzling more than 2,000 pairs of shoes while working at a department store in Tainan. The Tainan District Court convicted Chen of embezzlement in a ruling on July 7, sentencing her to prison for illegally profiting NT$7.32 million (US$248,929) at the expense of her employer. Chen was also given the opportunity to reach a financial settlement, but she declined. Chen was responsible for the sales counter of Nike shoes at Tainan’s Shinkong Mitsukoshi Zhongshan branch, where she had been employed since October 2019. She had previously worked
RSS