The KMT has decided to sell its stock holdings in its two terrestrial TV stations and one radio station, the party's officials told reporters yesterday.
"Withdrawing the party from the media is the party's policy. We will try to sell our shares to fulfill our political promises," KMT spokesman Alex Tsai (
The decision comes in the wake of President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) vow to remove political and military influences from the media, which had been one of his campaign promises from the 2000 election.
Tsai added that the decision was also in response to the first reading of an amendment to the Broadcasting and Television Law (
"No matter what, we will have to sell our shares in media organizations when the amendment is passed in the Legislative Yuan," he said.
Under the amendment, the government, which is the biggest shareholder in the terrestrial TV stations Taiwan Television (TTV) and China Television System (CTS), would be required to release or sell its shares in broadcast media within six months of the amendment becoming law.
Political parties investing in or operating broadcast media would be required to release or sell their shares in media organizations within three years.
"If we fail to sell the shares, we will put them into trusteeship as soon as we can," Tsai said.
The KMT holds 42 percent of the shares in China Television (CTV), and 97 percent in the Broadcasting Corporation of China (BCC), while it holds some 7 million TTV shares.
The KMT calculates that the market value of its TTV's shares is between NT$13 to NT$15 per share, meaning it stands to generate some NT$100 million by selling its stake.
The market price of the CTV shares, according to KMT calculations, is NT$9.8 per share, which would yield the party some NT$50 million. Tsai was unable to provide the market value for KMT's BCC shares.
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