Government Information Office (GIO) Minister Pasuya Yao (
"We have not decided how to handle the case yet. But we will definitely make public our decision as soon as it is finalized," Yao said.
The minister made the remarks during the weekly Cabinet meeting yesterday morning. He was asked for the latest developments in the case as the 40-day deadline given to TVBS by the GIO expired on Tuesday.
As of press time yesterday, Yao was still insisting that TVBS was a 100 percent foreign-owned company, which is in violation of local laws. Forty days ago, the GIO asked TVBS to come up with a solution to the matter or the TV station would face "punishment."
Although promising that the GIO will "punish" TVBS, Yao said that the station's operating license is legal.
"TVBS applied for its Channel 56 license as a variety channel, which means there should be a mixture of news programs, soap operas and other programming. There is no problem with that," Yao said.
Yao denied a rumor which has been circulating since Tuesday that the GIO will force TVBS to move its channels. In response to suggestions that Taiwan interfered with press freedoms, Yao took advantage of Freedom House's recently-published annual press freedom report, which was made public on Tuesday, to explain that this was sufficient evidence to show that the government did not interfere with press freedom.
"The report did not identify Taiwan as a free country for nothing," Yao said. "It is impossible for the government to force the media to do anything."
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
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