National Communications Commission (NCC) Chairperson Howard Shyr (石世豪) yesterday said that the commission plans to examine claims that the cable service operator Taiwan Broadband Communications (TBC) has received funding from Chinese investors.
TBC’s major shareholder Macquarie Group launched its Asia Pay Television Trust (APTT) on the Singapore Exchange in May.
The cable service operator then applied for permission to change its overseas investment structure, which was approved by the NCC last week.
Currently, Taiwan bans direct Chinese investment in local media outlets and telecom companies.
However, a story reported by the Chinese-language China Times yesterday said APTT had drawn funds from Chinese investors, which could generate national security concerns.
The commission’s handling of the case was heavily criticized by the lawmakers at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee yesterday.
In response, Shyr said the commission would review the facts, and spend two days investigating the matter.
Shyr said the NCC commissioners spent four hours deliberating before they decided to grant TBC’s request because some commissioners thought the change should not be approved.
He added that stocks in initial public offerings (IPOs) would draw funding from all over the world.
“APTT’s contract promised that the group would buy back shares purchased by Chinese investors,” Shyr said, adding that any change in management would be close scrutinized.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Kuo-cheng (林國正) asked why the NCC approved the change if TBC’s board had not told the truth in the first place.
“Many companies have launched IPOs overseas to bypass government regulations,” he said.
The committee passed a resolution requesting the NCC to deliver a report on its investigation into the TBC’s overseas shareholding structure before tomorrow.
Shyr said that previously such cases only needed to be approved by the Investment Commission.
However, he said the Investment Commission had agreed that any investment in media outlets needed to be reviewed by the NCC as well.
Meanwhile, the NCC issued a statement yesterday saying it had requested TBC to identify the APTT shareholders and submit information on them to the commission as soon as possible.
It added that TBC would be required to follow regulations governing the investment fund set by China and the Fair Trade Act (公平交易法).
“The commission made investments from China, Hong Kong and Macau a crucial item when it reviewed changes to TBC’s overseas investment structure,” the statement said.
“TBC was told that it was supposed to inform both the Singapore Exchange, as well as the NCC, when changes in the number of beneficiary certificates of the fund exceed 5 percent. Should APTT want to change its trust fund manager, it would need to file a new application with the NCC and follow the relevant laws in Taiwan,” it said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS