At a provisional board meeting of the Central Broadcasting System (CBS) in Taipei yesterday, the board of directors approved the resignations of chairman Cheng Yu (鄭優), Radio Taiwan International (RTI) director-general Shao Li-chung (紹立中) and deputy station chief Chang Cheng-lin (張正霖).
Board members Luo Chih-cheng (羅致政) and Tung Li-wen (董立文) also announced their resignations at the meeting. Luo also offered the resignations of two other directors — Liao Chin-kui (廖錦桂) and Chu Tai-hsiang (朱台翔) — who were not in attendance, on their behalf.
Speaking at the meeting, one of the directors got agitated, claiming that “the government has mobilized the media to force a mass resignation.”
Ho Nai-chi (何乃麒), head of the Government Information Office (GIO) Department of Broadcasting Affairs, who was put forward in the meeting to serve as provisional chairman, rebutted the remarks. He said the government had never pressured any director to resign.
Ho said that after the meeting yesterday, the GIO would appoint new directors to fill the vacancies as soon as possible, and a new chairperson would be elected in due course, so that the CBS and RTI can continue their operations with minimum disruption.
A front-page story in the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) on Tuesday reported that the RTI,which broadcasts in 13 languages around the world, had been told by the government not to denounce China. It also reported that 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 and to protest the government’s repression of free speech. GIO Minister Vanessa Shih (史亞平) on Tuesday denied the report.
A domestically developed “suicide drone,” also known as a loitering munition, would be tested and evaluated in July, and could enter mass production next year, Taiwan’s weapons developer said on Wednesday. The yet-to-be-named drone was among nine drone models unveiled by the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) on Tuesday. The drone has been dubbed the “Taiwanese switchblade” by Chinese-language media, due to its similarity to the US-made AeroVironment Switchblade 300, which has been used by Ukraine in counterattacks during Russia’s invasion. It has a range of more than 10km, a flight time of more than 15 minutes, and an electro-optical
GOOD INFLUENCE: Kwan said his mother tutored him at home for a few years, saying that she had to protect his ‘creativity’ as his writing had suffered Director and coproducer of the Oscar-winning absurdist comedy-drama Everything Everywhere All at Once Daniel Kwan (關家永) on Sunday dedicated the movie to his Taiwanese mother, who he said supported his creativity growing up. “She is someone who sacrificed a lot for her kids,” Kwan, 35, said backstage at the Oscars. The movie, released early last year, received a commanding 11 nominations at the Academy Awards, and won seven, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Screenplay and Best Film Editing. Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, with whom he also directed the 2016 fantasy film Swiss Army
HYGIENE KEY: The CDC reported two cases of enterovirus 71, which can cause serious complications, and as there have been no recent outbreaks, children are not immune Two cases of enterovirus 71 (EV71) were reported last week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, adding that it was a warning sign, as the virus has not been detected for more than a year. Parents are advised to remind their children to practice good hand hygiene, it said. Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉), director of the CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Center, said that 165,230 people visited a hospital for diarrhea last week, which is a high number. Most of the diarrhea case clusters were caused by norovirus infection, but there were also enterovirus cases, and weekly caseloads are slowly increasing, Guo said. Most of
A bipartisan US congressional delegation arrived in Taiwan yesterday on a two-day visit that is to include meetings with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and other senior government officials, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The delegation comprises Republican US representatives and Chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Ken Calvert, Tom Cole, Dave Joyce and Mike Garcia, as well as Democratic US Representative Ed Case, the ministry said in a news release. Upon their arrival at Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport), the five representatives were welcomed by North American Affairs Department Director-General Douglas Hsu (徐佑典), it said. During their visit, they are to meet