The National Communications Commission (NCC) confirmed yesterday that it has received more than 500 complaints over CtiTV’s talk show News Tornado (新聞龍捲風) after one of its invited guests used allegedly contemptuous terms to describe a female participant in the Sunflower movement in an episode aired on Friday.
Huang Chin-yi (黃金益), director of the commission’s communication content department, said the content from the episode will be delivered to an independent content review committee for review.
The program upset many netizens after one of the guests, Peng Hua-gan (彭華幹), commented on the appearance of a female participant named Johanne Liou (劉喬安) in the March 30 demonstration against the government’s handling of the agreement.
Many filed online complaints to the commission over the weekend, which at one point made it difficult to refresh the Web page.
In his description, Peng specifically mentioned that Liou wore a “provocative” low-cut shirt, hot pants and thigh-high boots, which he said made her look “super hot.”
He moved his hands over the photograph as if to suggest he was going to unbutton her shirt.
“I know democracy is a non-negotiable asset, but who cares about the service trade pact after we see you?” Peng said.
A netizen named Kuo Huai-chin (郭懷今) said she could not bear to watch the program because the commentator was “super gross and shameless,” adding that the media outlet was garbage and a national disgrace.
Another netizen identifying himself as Hong Jr. Chen said that the “smear campaign” was a strategy of the Want Want China Times Group, to which CtiTV belongs, and was intended to denigrate the student movement.
In response to Peng’s remarks, Liou posted on Facebook that she did not intend to draw people’s attention to her or to her attire.
“I was wearing short suit trousers, not hot pants. The shirt was designed that way. I had buttoned up my shirt completely and wore a vest inside. I didn’t want to expose too much of my thighs so I wore thigh-high boots,” she wrote.
“I just turned 29 yesterday [Saturday]. If I wanted to become famous, I would have done it 10 years ago. I was there purely to support the students. I was touched that they are standing up for what they believe in and refusing to make compromises,” she added.
CtiTV issued a statement saying the program used only “normal” and “positive” terms to describe the woman.
“What the commentator said was all factually correct and he did not use any derogatory terms... It was then followed with terms used by men to express their admirations for the woman online,” the statement said.
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
The Ministry of Culture yesterday officially launched the “We TAIWAN” cultural program on Osaka’s Nakanoshima sandbank, with the program’s mascot receiving overwhelming popularity. The cultural program, which runs from Aug. 2 to 20, was designed to partner with and capitalize on the 2025 World Expo that is being held in Osaka, Japan, from April 13 to Oct. 13, the ministry said. On the first day of the cultural program, its mascot, a green creature named “a-We,” proved to be extremely popular, as its merch was immediately in high demand. Long lines formed yesterday for the opening
The Taipei Summer Festival is to begin tomorrow at Dadaocheng Wharf (大稻埕), featuring four themed firework shows and five live music performances throughout the month, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said today. The festival in the city’s Datong District (大同) is to run until Aug. 30, holding firework displays on Wednesdays and the final Saturday of the event. The first show is scheduled for tomorrow, followed by Aug. 13, 20 and 30. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Disney Pixar's movie Toy Story, the festival has partnered with Walt Disney Co (Taiwan) to host a special themed area on
RSS