Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers yesterday urged the Ministry of Culture to found a Kaohsiung national public television station in accordance with a Legislative Yuan resolution that was passed in 2006.
Twelve years ago, the legislature passed the Divestment of Shares in Terrestrial Television Act (無線電視事業公股處理條例) in a bipartisan vote, DPP Legislator Lai Jui-lung (賴瑞隆) told a news conference at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei.
Lawmakers from all parties also voted in favor of a resolution requiring Taiwan Broadcasting System (TBS) to set up a regional station in Kaohsiung within five years of the act’s passage, Lai said.
Photo: CNA
In 2007, the then-Government Information Office selected the site of a disused aluminum smelter in the city and the Executive Yuan set aside NT$4.1 billion (US$147.69 million at the current exchange rate) for the project, he said.
The project came to a halt the following year when the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) returned to power, Lai said.
“In this, the KMT displayed its historic favoritism of the north ... and contempt for the legislature’s resolutions,” he said.
DPP Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said the resolution to establish a TBS station in Kaohsiung had passed the Legislative Yuan after eight rounds of negotiations with a bipartisan show of support.
The KMT killed the program by objecting to the location of the proposed station, which had been selected by a panel of experts, then ignored the issue until it could be conveniently forgotten, she said.
The plan for a TBS station in Kaohsiung should be revived to address the regional imbalance in the nation’s media industry, she said.
It is long overdue for the ministry to carry out the program for which the Kaohsiung City Government has prepared a budget, DPP Legislator Chao Tien-lin (趙天麟) said.
TBS should put down roots in Kaohsiung to assist in balancing the nation’s regional development, he added.
The city has over the past few years made strides in infrastructure and culture, and a fair share of resources should be distributed to the south, DPP Legislator Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said.
Taiwan’s old economic strategy of focusing on the economic development of the north no longer makes sense today when Taipei has reached its development potential, Liu said.
The proposed TBS station is urgently needed to boost the development of Kaohsiung and give the south more representation in Taiwan’s media industry, Liu said.
Deputy Minister of Culture Lee Ching-hwi (李靜慧) said the ministry fully agrees with the principle of balanced regional development and fair representation, adding that officials are planning to support the creation of studios in Kaohsiung.
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