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.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard