The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that it is to form a task force next week to investigate Chang Ching-yi (張經義), a Taiwanese reporter employed by a Chinese state-run news agency, to determine if he should be fined for contravening the Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (兩岸人民關係條例).
Chang, a White House correspondent employed by Shanghai Dragon Television, generated controversy at a White House news briefing on April 8 when he was asked by US President Donald Trump where he was from.
Instead of saying that he represented the Chinese television station, Chang said that he was from Taiwan.
Photo courtesy of the Yunlin County Government
Shanghai Dragon Television is owned by the Chinese Communist Party’s Shanghai City Committee and Shanghai Municipal People’s Government, the Mainland Affairs Council has said.
Chang could have contravened Article 33, Section 2 of the act, which bans any individual, legal entity or organization in Taiwan from holding any position or becoming a member of Chinese agencies and institutions that are owned by a political party, the military, the government or of an institution political in nature, the council said.
If he has contravened the act, Chang could face a fine of NT$100,000 to NT$500,000.
The article authorizes the council to form a committee that includes officials from relevant administrative authorities and to make a decision in the case, but the council has turned the case over to the commission, NCC spokesman Hsiao Chi-hung (蕭祈宏) said.
The commission would form a task force to investigate if Chang has contravened the act, he said.
Asked why the council, which is the government agency in charge of enforcing the act, was not investigating Chang and making the decision itself, Hsiao said that the council is authorized to assign a case to another government agency.
The NCC is in charge of enforcing the Radio and Television Act (廣播電視法), Satellite Broadcasting Act (衛星廣播電視法) and Cable Television and Radio Act (有線廣播電視法), which only apply to Taiwanese broadcast media.
While the acts prohibit political parties, the government and the military from investing and managing Taiwanese media enterprises, it is the media enterprises, rather than individuals, that would be subject to punishment in the case of a breach.
The NCC’s task force would review the case with council officials, Hsiao said, adding that interdepartmental meetings would also hear the opinions of other government agencies.
Whether and how much Chang should be fined would depend on a decision by NCC commissioners when they receive the results of the review, he said, adding that the task force would contact Chang to allow him to provide an explanation as part of the review.
If it is determined Chang had contravened the act, the government would be able to implement a punishment as long as Chang has a household registration in Taiwan, he added.
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