The Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee yesterday declared Broadcasting Corp of China (BCC, 中廣) an affiliate of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), ordering it to relinquish 109,627m2 of land to the state and pay NT$7.731 billion (US$249.283 million) in compensation.
The committee said that the finances, business and personnel of the company had been effectively under the control of the KMT until 2016, when it, through party-controlled Hua Hsia Investment Holding Co (華夏投資), sold 96.95 percent of BCC shares under its control at a steep discount to Hao Ting Co (好聽), Yueh Yueh Co (悅悅), Boyinyuan Co (播音員) and Guangbojen Co (廣播人).
The committee said that BCC’s ill-gotten assets could be split into two major categories: land and assets appropriated from now-defunct Taiwan Hoso Kyokai and those purchased with government funding.
Photo: CNA
The committee ordered BCC to transfer ownership of a broadcasting unit and a former broadcasting bureau building in Chiayi County’s Minsyong Township (民雄) and a broadcasting unit on Toad Mountain (蟾蜍山) in New Taipei City’s Jingmei District (景美) — totaling 109,627m2 of land and 699m2 of building space — to the state, per the Act Governing the Handling of Illegal Assets by Political Parties and Their Affiliate Organizations (政黨及其附隨組織不當取得財產處理條例).
It also demanded that BCC compensate the government for assets acquired via ill-gotten means that have already been transferred to a third party or requisitioned by the government.
Among such assets is Taipei’s luxury residential complex The Palace (帝寶).
The company should transfer ownership of the properties and pay the government within 30 days of receiving official notice, the committee said.
However, as the radio frequencies that BCC operates on are within the jurisdiction of the National Communications Commission, they were not considered, it added.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were