The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said it had asked Want Want-China Broadband to brief the commission on how it handled the repercussions of remarks by Want Want China Times Group chairman Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明) in an interview with the Washington Post last month, adding that the company must provide written information as soon as it receives an official notice from the commission.
The media regulator made the announcement during a review of change of management applications from 11 cable service providers previously owned by multiple system operator China Network Systems (CNS), which was purchased by Want Want China Broadband last year.
Chen Kuo-long (陳國龍), director of the commission’s business management department, said the official notice would be delivered within two weeks.
Kao Fu-yao (高福堯), director of the commission’s legal department, said the commission had asked the company to clarify a number of things, including the Washington Post incident.
“At this point, the commission is trying to understand some basic facts and has yet to discuss whether the company should make any substantial commitment,” Kao said. “Based on the NCC Organization Act (通傳會組織法), the commission is charged with preserving the independence of media, which we will consider when we review the case.”
The Jan. 21 Post article quoted the Taiwanese billionaire as saying “unification with China is going to happen sooner or later,” whether people like it or not.
Commenting on the decision to fire an editor at the Chinese-language China Times for describing a top Chinese negotiator on Taiwan as “third rate,” Tsai said the person was dismissed because the description offended people, not just the Chinese.
In the interview with Andrew Higgins, Tsai also said he did not believe the reports of a massacre in Tianamen Square in 1989 were true.
Last week, however, he said in a letter in the China Times that he was wiling to apologize to the victims of the Tianamen Square Massacre if his comments offended them, adding that his words had been “severely twisted” by the journalist.
Media experts also criticized Want Want China Times Group for using its own media outlets to report the Post incident, but failing to balance those reports by including different opinions.
Kao said the case involved several media laws, including the Cable Television Act (有線廣播電視法), the Statute For Investment By Foreign Nationals (外國人投資條例) and the Telecommunications Act (電信法).
The commission will review the information provided by Want Want-China Times and decide whether it should hold more public hearings on the case or take other actions, he said.
Prior to the meeting yesterday, several university professors urged the commission to reject the Want Want China Times-CNS deal, saying it would create a “cross-media monster” that controls the press, TV and almost one-third of the cable TV market.
Kao also confirmed that NCC Deputy Chairperson Chen Jeng-chang (陳正倉), as well as commissioners Chung Chi-hui (鍾起惠) and Weng Hsiao-ling (翁曉玲), had withdrawn from reviewing the case.
The three have yet to pursue legal action against Want Want China Times, after the group threatened to sue them for giving it such a difficult time in approving the Want Want Group’s purchase of China Times Group in 2009. The group later published their photos on the front page of the China Times in a manner resembling those of wanted criminals.
Meanwhile, the commission said it had decided to send some of the media coverage on the altercation involving singer-actress Makiyo and her friends and a taxi driver to the Content Review Committee, formed by media experts not affiliated with the commission, for review.
“Some channels have repeatedly broadcast images and content reinforcing physical and psychological violence, which could be harmful to children and teenagers and violate regulations governing TV ratings,” it said.
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
Instead of threatening tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, the US should try to reinforce cooperation with Taiwan on semiconductor development to take on challenges from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), a Taiwanese think tank said. The administration of US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose across-the-board import duties of 32 percent on Taiwan-made goods and levy a separate tariff on semiconductors, which Taiwan is hoping to avoid. The Research Institute for Democracy, Society, and Emerging Technology (DSET), a National Science and Technology Council think tank, said that US efforts should focus on containing China’s semiconductor rise rather than impairing Taiwan. “Without
An SOS message in a bottle has been found in Ireland that is believed to have come from the Taiwanese captain of fishing vessel Yong Yu Sing No. 18 (永裕興18號), who has been missing without a trace for over four years, along with nine Indonesian crew members. The vessel, registered to Suao (蘇澳), went missing near Hawaii on Dec. 30, 2020. The ship has since been recovered, but the 10 crew members have never been found. The captain, surnamed Lee (李), is believed to have signed the note with his name. A post appeared on Reddit on Tuesday after a man
RSS