Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) yesterday called on the government to ban Chinese media in Taiwan from producing political shows, saying they degrade the nation and some Taiwanese politicians reportedly tout Beijing’s propaganda through the programs.
During an appearance last month on the China Central Television (CCTV) talk show The Two Sides of the Taiwan Strait (海峽兩岸), Taipei City Councilor Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) referred to President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) as “Taiwan’s leader,” terminology frequently used by Beijing.
Wang is also deputy chairwoman of the KMT’s Culture and Communications Committee.
Photo: Screen grab from the Internet
New Party member Chiu Yi (邱毅) last year on the show discussed the deployment of Taiwan’s military missiles, and he later said that the show was produced at a studio in Taiwan.
China-based SETV (東南衛視) and FJTV (海峽衛視), both part of Fujian Media Group, also produce political shows on cross-strait affairs in studios in Taipei.
On the SETV show Haixia Shinkansen (海峽新幹線), which connects to a Taipei-based studio every episode, a Chinese host typically makes opening remarks, and two Taiwanese guests then comment on Taiwan’s politics and parrot Chinese political views, critics have said.
The Mainland Affairs Council has said that Chinese reporters based in Taiwan can rent film studios from Taiwanese media and transmit their shows back to China for broadcasting without government approval.
However, Chinese reporters not stationed in Taiwan must apply to the government before producing shows in the nation, it said.
CCTV and SETV are allowed to station reporters in Taiwan, but FJTV is not, it said.
Chiu Chih-wei said that the council’s standards are too lax, urging it to ensure that the Chinese hosts have work permits and that their shows comply with their government applications.
Beijing tasks Chinese media with collecting intelligence and executing “united front” tactics, and Taiwan’s government should remain vigilant about these activities, he said.
Chinese media are Beijing’s mouthpieces for propaganda that practice self-censorship, so they cannot be viewed as ordinary news outlets that are supposed to produce objective and balanced programming, National Taiwan University journalism professor Flora Chang (張錦華) said.
The government should not treat Chinese reporters as free media workers when planning their management, but should follow the US practice of listing them as official agencies, she said.
The US government on Monday added four Chinese media outlets to a list of organizations that should be considered “foreign missions” because of their ties to the Chinese Communist Party.
“If these outlets are considered government agencies [just as the US sees them], would Taiwanese authorities agree to allow them to establish representative offices in Taiwan?” Chang said.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard