Grace Liao (廖筱君), host of SET-TV’s New Taiwan Go Go Go (新台灣加油), the successor to popular political TV talk show Talking Show (大話新聞), famous for its criticism of the government and China, confirmed her resignation on Friday, allegedly due to increasing pressure by the Chinese government on the show’s editorial autonomy.
“I don’t feel at all sleepy even though I have been awake the entire night. Making this decision was not an easy task, but after doing so, there is a sense of relief … We will meet another day and until then, we will fight for this land called Taiwan,” Liao said in a Facebook post at about 4am on Friday.
SET-TV spokesperson Chang Cheng-fen (張正芬) also confirmed Liao’s resignation, saying Liao was assigned to her current post at a critical moment after Talking Show host Cheng Hung-yi (鄭弘儀) left the program in May. Liao tendered her resignation for family reasons, Chang said.
Photo: Chen Yi-chuen, Taipei Times
Allegedly, Liao had originally decided to break the news of her departure during the show’s live broadcast on Thursday, but called in sick that afternoon after rumors of her resignation emerged earlier than expected.
Former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator and political commentator Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) filled in for Liao on Friday’s program.
Liao’s abrupt resignation has given rise to further speculation about Chinese influence in Taiwan-based television stations, particularly after Cheng also cited “family reasons” for his resignation.
At the time, most analysts linked his departure to China’s growing pressure on SET-TV, which has been attempting to break into the Chinese market.
According to a source familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity, Liao submitted her resignation after her relationship with the station ran aground over a number of sensitive issues.
The station had reportedly planned to get rid of all the regular guests on Talking Show following its suspension in May. However, Liao insisted on keeping some of them, including veteran journalist Wu Kuo-tung (吳國棟) and Soochow University political science professor Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明), to maintain the show’s audience base.
Liao allegedly further displeased the station’s management when she persisted in covering issues related to the recent student protests against the acquisition of Next Media’s four outlets in Taiwan by a consortium including Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明), chairman of Want Want China Times Group — which already owns many major media outlets such as the Chinese-language China Times.
Despite attracting a large audience, the topics were deemed taboo by both China and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), the source said.
Another source said political pressure from China has only increased following Cheng’s departure and all subjects covered in New Taiwan Go Go Go must be vetted before being aired.
“The show is barred from touching upon any issues pertaining to China, or airing criticism of the KMT administration,” the source said.
Citing as an example, the source said that former DPP legislator Lee Wen-chung (李文忠), who had been on the show several times, was blacklisted by the station’s senior management after making a reference on the show to the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) denial of visits by the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and World Uyghur Congress president Rebiya Kadeer.
“Such suppression of free speech was also seen when Liao was forbidden from discussing human rights issues involving Liu Xia (劉霞), the wife of imprisoned Chinese dissident and Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo (劉曉波), who recently lamented in tears her confinement under house arrest in a media interview,” the source said.
Blasting what he called China’s brutal smothering of Taiwanese television programs, an anonymous whistleblower accused the Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) of China’s State Council of monitoring and exerting its influence on a number of political talk shows in Taiwan.
According to the whistleblower, SET-TV has allegedly made some promises to TAO deputy director Sun Yafu (孫亞夫) who engaged in pro-unification rhetoric at a two-day forum on cross-strait relations in Taipei last week when the latter recently visited the TV station.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS