Government Information Office (GIO) Minister Vanessa Shih (史亞平) yesterday denied a report that state-owned Radio Taiwan International (RTI), which broadcasts in 13 languages around the world, had been told by the government not to denounce China.
A front-page story in the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) yesterday said some independent directors of RTI were planning to resign en masse to express their dissatisfaction with the government’s intervention in the company’s operations.
“The GIO, as a supervisor of RTI, has urged it to build a good image of the country. It has not asked them not to criticize China,” Shih said.
RTI chairman Cheng Yu (鄭優) said he has told the GIO that he intends to step down and will give his letter of resignation to a provisional meeting of RTI’s board of directors today.
Cheng was assigned by the former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government to lead the RTI. His term expires next September.
Board member Luo Chih-cheng (羅致政) said that he, several independent directors and RTI director general Shao Li-chung (紹立中) would submit their resignations today to protest the government’s repression of free speech and its pro-China position.
Meanwhile, Cheng refused to respond to comments by some Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers that he should have resigned after the KMT administration took office since RTI is a national station.
KMT Legislator Kuo Su-chun (郭素春) accused Cheng of using political intervention as an excuse to quit his job.
DPP Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) criticized the KMT government for reshuffling RTI’s board for political reasons.
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
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