Former Hualien county commissioner Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) has been accused of misappropriating NT$5.46 million (US$177,198) from the county’s tax income to hire reporters to write articles, produce videos or take photographs to trumpet his administration’s achievements.
The Chinese-language Mirror Media magazine yesterday reported that a closed tender to create a “media database to promote county government policies,” which had been initiated before Fu was imprisoned for speculative stock trading in September, was sent to 25 reporters from 14 news outlets and TV news stations.
The closed tender was for 25 projects scheduled for last year and this year each promising payments from NT$140,000 to NT$283,000.
Photo: Lin Hsin-han, Taipei Times
Reporters who were awarded the bid were from the United Daily News, the Keng Sheng Daily News, Formosa TV, Sanlih E-Television, Next TV, CTi TV, China Television Co, TVBS, Taiwan Television, ERA TV, ETTV News, Taiwan Indigenous TV, Hakka TV and an online news site, the magazine said.
A leaked audio recording purportedly features former Hualien County Government deputy secretary-general Hsieh Kung-ping (謝公秉), a close aide of Fu, promising some reporters a monthly payment of NT$50,000 for helping the county government “gather information.”
The payment would be issued directly to them by a “department head” in the county government, Hsieh purportedly says in the recording, adding: “Now this job is between you, me and the department head.”
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Tuan Yi-kang (段宜康) yesterday at a meeting of the legislature’s Organic Laws and Statutes Committee demanded that the National Communications Commission and the Control Yuan investigate the allegations.
He said he found it difficult to believe that two of the implicated reporters were from Taiwan Indigenous TV and two were from Hakka TV, as these are state-sponsored public broadcasting companies.
“Should the Taiwan Broadcasting System not be held accountable? Should the private media outlets not give society an explanation?” he said.
Hualien County Secretary-General Lee Hsu-ning (李旭寧), speaking to reporters during a visit to the Taichung World Flora Exposition alongside Acting Hualien County Commissioner Tsai Pi-chung (蔡碧仲), called the alleged tender “unfathomable.”
According to law, a county government must announce the winning contractors in a tender within 30 days after the tender is closed, but Fu had withheld the information, Lee said.
It was not until after Hualien Research and Administration Department head Hsieh Ming-hung (謝明宏) took office that the tender was discovered and its contents uploaded to the county government’s Web site for public viewing, he said.
In addition, all the “contractors” were natural persons instead of companies and the projects were contracted out via selective bidding for both years, he said.
Fu’s administration managed tenders as if they were bait, which was inappropriate, as tenders should be demand-driven, he said.
As of press time last night, ERA TV said that it had conducted an internal investigation into the allegations and had no comment at the moment.
Formosa News said the accused reporters had been suspended and would be subject to an investigation.
Hakka TV expressed regret over its implication in the incident, saying that one of the accused reporters had recently resigned after being posted in Hualien for more than 10 years.
Additional reporting by CNA
GAINING STEAM: The scheme initially failed to gather much attention, with only 188 cards issued in its first year, but gained popularity amid the COVID-19 pandemic Applications for the Employment Gold Card have increased in the past few years, with the card having been issued to a total of 13,191 people from 101 countries since its introduction in 2018, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday. Those who have received the card have included celebrities, such as former NBA star Dwight Howard and Australian-South Korean cheerleader Dahye Lee, the NDC said. The four-in-one Employment Gold Card combines a work permit, resident visa, Alien Resident Certificate (ARC) and re-entry permit. It was first introduced in February 2018 through the Act Governing Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及雇用法),
RESILIENCE: Deepening bilateral cooperation would extend the peace sustained over the 45 years since the Taiwan Relations Act, Greene said Taiwan-US relations are built on deep economic ties and shared values, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Raymond Greene said yesterday, adding that strengthening supply chain security in critical industries, enhancing societal resilience through cooperation and deepening partnerships are key to ensuring peace and stability for Taiwan in the years ahead. Greene made the remarks at the National Security Youth Forum, organized by National Taiwan University’s National Security and Strategy Studies Institution in Taipei. In his address in Mandarin Chinese, Greene said the Taiwan-US relationship is built on deep economic ties and shared interests, and grows stronger through the enduring friendship between
CAUTION URGED: Xiaohongshu and Douyin — the Chinese version of TikTok — are tools the Chinese government uses for its ‘united front’ propaganda, the MAC said Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) yesterday urged people who use Chinese social media platforms to be cautious of being influenced by Beijing’s “united front” propaganda and undermining Taiwan’s sovereignty. Chiu made the remarks in response to queries about Chinese academic Zhang Weiwei (張維為) saying that as young Taiwanese are fond of interacting on Chinese app Xiaohongshu (小紅書, known as RedNote in English), “after unification with China, it would be easier to govern Taiwan than Hong Kong.” Zhang is professor of international relations at Shanghai’s Fudan University and director of its China Institute. When giving a speech at China’s Wuhan
ENHANCE DETERRENCE: Taiwan has to display ‘fierce resolve’ to defend itself for China to understand that the costs of war outweigh potential gains, Koo said Taiwan’s armed forces must reach a high level of combat readiness by 2027 to effectively deter a potential Chinese invasion, Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said in an interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) published yesterday. His comments came three days after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the US Senate that deterring a Chinese attack on Taiwan requires making a conflict “cost more than what it’s worth.” Rubio made the remarks in response to a question about US policy on Taiwan’s defense from Republican Senator John Cornyn, who said that Chinese
RSS