The Control Yuan yesterday impeached Hsieh Kung-ping (謝公秉), a top aide of former Hualien County commissioner Fu Kun-chi, for alleged involvement in the bribery of media companies using NT$5.26 million (US$167,090) of public funds.
A probe found that Hsieh, then secretary-general of the Hualien County Government, misappropriated funds from the county’s tax income to pay reporters to write articles and produce news segments trumpeting the achievement of the county government and Fu.
Hsieh and Lin Chin-hu (林金虎), head of the Research and Evaluation Section of the county government, were impeached for “damaging the public trust in the media’s fairness and independence,” and turning media outlets in Hualien into a “propaganda apparatus for Fu’s government,” the Control Yuan said in a report.
Photo: CNA
Hsieh was previously a spokesman for the People First Party and worked for years as a journalist, including 10 years heading up the political news desk at the United Daily News from 1992 to 2001.
Under Fu’s administration, Hsieh and Lin allegedly used a closed tender to create a “media database to promote county government policies,” with regular payments to 25 reporters from 14 news outlets.
Hsieh was recorded on video promising monthly payments of about NT$50,000 for help “gathering information” and to write positive news, with those “awarded” tender bids including reporters from the China Times, the United Daily News, the Keng Sheng Daily News, Formosa TV, Sanlih E-Television, Next TV, CtiTV, China Television Co, TVBS, Taiwan Television, ERA TV, ETTV News, Taiwan Indigenous TV and Hakka TV, the report said.
“Hsieh, as a former senior media figure, should know the ethical principles for news reporting and that reporters must distance themselves from government officials and subjects they are scrutinizing,” the county government said.
“However, Hsieh still utilized the closed tender to award work to reporters, leading to questions of whether public money was used to buy reporters, as well as harm to the county government’s image and the tarnishing of public confidence in media outlets,” it said.
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Instead of focusing solely on the threat of a full-scale military invasion, the US and its allies must prepare for a potential Chinese “quarantine” of Taiwan enforced through customs inspections, Stanford University Hoover fellow Eyck Freymann said in a Foreign Affairs article published on Wednesday. China could use various “gray zone” tactics in “reconfiguring the regional and ultimately the global economic order without a war,” said Freymann, who is also a nonresident research fellow at the US Naval War College. China might seize control of Taiwan’s links to the outside world by requiring all flights and ships entering or leaving Taiwan
The next minimum wage hike is expected to exceed NT$30,000, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday during an award ceremony honoring “model workers,” including migrant workers, at the Presidential Office ahead of Workers’ Day today. Lai said he wished to thank the awardees on behalf of the nation and extend his most sincere respect for their hard work, on which Taiwan’s prosperity has been built. Lai specifically thanked 10 migrant workers selected for the award, saying that although they left their home countries to further their own goals, their efforts have benefited Taiwan as well. The nation’s industrial sector and small businesses lay
Taiwan's first indigenous defense submarine, the SS-711 Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), departed for its 13th sea trial at 7am today, marking its seventh submerged test, with delivery to the navy scheduled for July. The outing also marked its first sea deployment since President William Lai (賴清德) boarded the submarine for an inspection on March 19, drawing a crowd of military enthusiasts who gathered to show support. The submarine this morning departed port accompanied by CSBC Corp’s Endeavor Manta (奮進魔鬼魚號) uncrewed surface vessel and a navy M109 assault boat. Amid public interest in key milestones such as torpedo-launching operations and overnight submerged trials,
RSS