The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday passed an amendment to the Satellite Broadcasting Act (衛星廣播電視法) allowing the government, political parties and the military to indirectly hold up to 10 percent of shares in satellite broadcasting companies.
The commission, however, still banned direct investment in the media from any of the three stated parties.
NCC spokesperson Chen Jeng-chang (陳正倉) said the Executive Yuan is scheduled to review the proposed amendment on Tuesday before it is sent to the legislature for deliberation.
Similar regulations in the Broadcasting and Television Act (廣播電視法) and the Cable Television Act (有線廣播電視法) will also be amended to be consistent with those in the Satellite Broadcasting Act, Chen said.
Once the amendment is passed by the legislature, Chunghwa Telecom will be able to branch out into satellite channel services through indirect investment, he said.
LIMITATIONS
Prior to the amendment, Chunghwa Telecom was forced to forgo its shares in Elta TV because one-third of the telecom carrier’s shares are owned by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications.
The shareholding structure of Taiwan Mobile was also under scrutiny because one of its major investors is Taipei Fubon Bank, which is 15 percent owned by the Taipei City Government through a merger between city-owned Taipei Bank and Fubon Bank in 2005.
CONTROLLING THE MEDIA
Chen said the commission thinks it was appropriate to address the issue in a progressive manner, and that it should focus on the actual action of controlling the media rather than limiting the sources of funding.
Aside from completely banning direct investment from the government, political parties or the military, the amendment also bans the three stated parties from being founders, board directors, overseers or managers in satellite broadcasting firms.
The amendment also forbids the three entities from owning indirect investment to the extent that they are able to control the management and finances of satellite broadcasting firms.
The amendment also defines “controlling” satellite broadcasting companies as indirectly holding more than 10 percent of the shares in the firm.
Those who may not “control” the firms include foundations established by the government or political parties, as well as endowments or representatives commissioned by them.
State-run corporations acting as founders, board directors, overseers or managers of a satellite broadcasting company would also be considered “control” by the government.
The amendment will enable the NCC to punish investors from the government, political parties and the military, not the satellite broadcasting firms that receive the investment.
The NCC said it set the 10 percent threshold by consulting the Securities and Exchange Act (證券交易法), which requires those holding more than 10 percent of shares to report to administrative authorities.
The NCC also checked the Public Information Web site and found that board directors or those holding management positions in a firm generally held about 10 percent of the total shares.
The NCC commissioners then ruled that having at least 10 percent of shares is adequate for a person to control a satellite broadcasting firm.
However, Andy Shieh (謝煥乾), deputy director of the NCC’s legal department, said: “That does not mean those who only have 3 percent or 5 percent of indirect investment will not have any problem,” adding that they may still violate the regulations if there is evidence showing there is actual government or political party control.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY RICH CHANG
WAITING GAME: The US has so far only offered a ‘best rate tariff,’ which officials assume is about 15 percent, the same as Japan, a person familiar with the matter said Taiwan and the US have completed “technical consultations” regarding tariffs and a finalized rate is expected to be released soon, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference yesterday, as a 90-day pause on US President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs is set to expire today. The two countries have reached a “certain degree of consensus” on issues such as tariffs, nontariff trade barriers, trade facilitation, supply chain resilience and economic security, Lee said. They also discussed opportunities for cooperation, investment and procurement, she said. A joint statement is still being negotiated and would be released once the US government has made
‘CRUDE’: The potential countermeasure is in response to South Africa renaming Taiwan’s representative offices and the insistence that it move out of Pretoria Taiwan is considering banning exports of semiconductors to South Africa after the latter unilaterally downgraded and changed the names of Taiwan’s two representative offices, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. On Monday last week, the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation unilaterally released a statement saying that, as of April 1, the Taipei Liaison Offices in Pretoria and Cape Town had been renamed the “Taipei Commercial Office in Johannesburg” and the “Taipei Commercial Office in Cape Town.” Citing UN General Assembly Resolution 2758, it said that South Africa “recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the sole
NEW GEAR: On top of the new Tien Kung IV air defense missiles, the military is expected to place orders for a new combat vehicle next year for delivery in 2028 Mass production of Tien Kung IV (Sky Bow IV) missiles is expected to start next year, with plans to order 122 pods, the Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) latest list of regulated military material showed. The document said that the armed forces would obtain 46 pods of the air defense missiles next year and 76 pods the year after that. The Tien Kung IV is designed to intercept cruise missiles and ballistic missiles to an altitude of 70km, compared with the 60km maximum altitude achieved by the Missile Segment Enhancement variant of PAC-3 systems. A defense source said yesterday that the number of
Taiwanese exports to the US are to be subject to a 20 percent tariff starting on Thursday next week, according to an executive order signed by US President Donald Trump yesterday. The 20 percent levy was the same as the tariffs imposed on Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh by Trump. It was higher than the tariffs imposed on Japan, South Korea and the EU (15 percent), as well as those on the Philippines (19 percent). A Taiwan official with knowledge of the matter said it is a "phased" tariff rate, and negotiations would continue. "Once negotiations conclude, Taiwan will obtain a better
RSS