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.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Many Japanese couples are coming to Taiwan to obtain donated sperm or eggs for fertility treatment due to conservatism in their home country, Taiwan’s high standards and low costs, doctors said. One in every six couples in Japan is receiving infertility treatment, Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare data show. About 70,000 children are born in Japan every year through in vitro fertilization (IVF), or about one in every 11 children born. Few people accept donated reproductive cells in Japan due to a lack of clear regulations, leaving treatment in a “gray zone,” Taichung Nuwa Fertility Center medical director Wang Huai-ling (王懷麟)
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
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