One day after his resignation as the chairman of Formosa TV (FTV), DPP Legislator Trong Chai (
Founded in 1996, FTV was the brainchild of Chai, who fought to break the KMT's monopoly on terrestrial TV broadcasting at a time when China Television Co was controlled by the KMT, Taiwan Television Enterprise was owned by the Taiwan Provincial Government and Chinese Television System was run by the military.
PHOTO: SEAN CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
Addressing a press conference at the book launch, Chai said: "for the sake of Taiwan, I established FTV, hoping to cultivate dignity and patriotism in the Taiwanese people ? I've seen FTV becoming a trademark for localization work in this country and a major local TV station. Now, for the sake of FTV, I have decided to leave."
Chai resigned as FTV chairman on Thursday to comply with the DPP's policy of ridding the media of any political influence.
FTV is the nation's fourth terrestrial TV station. It has one terrestrial TV channel and one cable TV channel with a variety of programs covering news, drama and other topics.
Chai, a long-term independence activist, lived in the US for three decades during which time he co-founded the Formosan Association for Public Affairs and devoted himself to lobbying for improving Taiwan's freedom and democracy.
"I have fought for Taiwan's democracy and freedom for 30 years in the US. Since returning to Taiwan 13 years ago, I still strive towards the same goals. My personal success and failure is closely related to Taiwan's development. If Taiwan is swallowed by China, it would mean a complete failure of my entire political career, but if Taiwan finally becomes an independent country, it would be the realization of my life-long ideal," Chai said in the book's preface.
DPP Legislator Wang Sing-nan (
DPP Lawmaker Lee Chun-yee (
"Furthermore, none of the press organizations is totally without a political stance, making it even more difficult to free the media from all political influence," he said.
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