The Legislative Yuan yesterday announced the launch of two official parliament television channels, which are to broadcast legislative proceedings live from Friday, the first day of the new legislative session.
The legislative proceedings, including general assembly meetings and committee meetings, had since April last year been broadcast in a pilot project on three commercial television networks commissioned by the legislature.
The official broadcasts are to be aired on public channels 123 and 124 and are governed by the Public Television Service Foundation.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
“Twenty-three new media outlets also helped broadcast the legislative meetings in the past year and together they counted more than 10 million viewers, which shows there is a need and public expectation for an open and monitored legislature,” legislative speaker Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) said.
“Many other democracies, such as the US, the UK, Japan and South Korea, have long had parliament TV. Ours has been planned and set up within a year,” he said, applauding the nation’s swift action.
Su last year pledged a more transparent and open Legislative Yuan, and broadcasting of legislative sessions was one of those promises.
The legislature consented to the pilot project in March last year and in November last year finalized amendments to set up official channels to be operated by the Public Television Service Foundation.
The nation’s major multiple system operators, independent cable system operators and Chunghwa Telecom Co’s media-on-demand TV service agreed to air the legislative sessions on channels 123 and 124, Su said.
The channel numbers were selected to echo World Freedom Day on Jan. 23, as liberty and equality are creeds of the Legislative Yuan, Su added.
Each of the two channels is to broadcast four of the eight legislative committees live on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, and the general assembly floor meetings on Tuesdays and Fridays are to be simulcast.
Taiwanese sign language translation is to be available for the premier’s policy report at the Legislative Yuan, as it was in the last session, and as of this session, real-time sign language translation is to be broadcast for the question-and-answer session.
Democratic Progressive Party caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said more transparency and public oversight would reduce the chances of misunderstanding and curb mudslinging among lawmakers.
New Power Party Legislator Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) said the TV channels would help boost the public’s trust in government agencies.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Wei-chou (林為洲) and People First Party Legislator Chen Yi-chieh (陳怡潔) called for interparty cooperation for better policies and image.
“We hope that what people watch on TV will not be our brawls,” Chen said.
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
The Hualien Branch of the High Court today sentenced the main suspect in the 2021 fatal derailment of the Taroko Express to 12 years and six months in jail in the second trial of the suspect for his role in Taiwan’s deadliest train crash. Lee Yi-hsiang (李義祥), the driver of a crane truck that fell onto the tracks and which the the Taiwan Railways Administration's (TRA) train crashed into in an accident that killed 49 people and injured 200, was sentenced to seven years and 10 months in the first trial by the Hualien District Court in 2022. Hoa Van Hao, a
Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation last night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by media. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan. In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20. The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon. The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistle-blower, which purportedly showed the
RSS