Representatives of the Sanlih Media Group yesterday told the National Communications Commission (NCC) that the conglomerate would make changes after allegations that Sanlih shareholders had contravened NCC policies to keep system operators and TV networks separate.
New Power Party (NPP) Legislator Chen Jiau-hua (陳椒華) in September said that Sanlih and Wan Hai Lines Ltd indirectly own shares of Homeplus Digital Co, with Sanlih owning several channels and Wan Hai heir Chen Chih-yuan (陳致遠) also a shareholder of Mirror TV.
NPP Legislator Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智) on Monday said that Hong Shun Investments Co, which wholly owns Homeplus, had on its board of directors Joseph Fan (范瑞穎), who is also on the board of Eastern Broadcasting Co, as well as serving as chairman of the board at Global News, an alleged breach of the NCC policy.
Photo: Ting Yi, Taipei Times
The “shadow puppeteer” behind Fan was Mao Te Group chairman Chang Kao-hsiang (張高祥), who would have had permits for six news channels, Chiu said.
Fan was appointed to the board of Eastern Broadcasting following its acquisition in 2019 by Mao Te.
Fan’s position as a board member of Hong Shun contravenes the NCC’s rules regarding separation of system operators and TV networks, Chiu said.
During Da-fu Media’s 2010 acquisition of Kbro Co, then the nation’s largest cable TV operator, the NCC had agreed on the condition that the acquisition would not include channels owned by Eastern Broadcasting Co and that it would have to approve any move to establish a news channel, he said.
The policy mandated that operators must choose between running a news channel or running a broader platform service, he said.
NCC officials speaking on condition of anonymity said that its approval of the Homeplus Digital investment included the clause “shareholders of participating investing assignees’ businesses, affiliated businesses or natural persons may not directly or indirectly invest or control a news channel.”
Asked about the absence of Homeplus representatives at the meeting, NCC Vice Chairman Wong Po-tsung (翁柏宗) said that Homeplus Digital representatives had attended two previous sessions, adding that the NCC would reach out to company chairman Gary Kuo (郭冠群) about the matter.
The NCC would investigate allegations that Wan Hai Lines and Fan contravened the NCC investment clause, Wong said.
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
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition
Advocates of the rights of motorcycle and scooter riders yesterday protested in front of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in Taipei, making three demands. They were joined by 30 passenger vehicles, which surrounded the ministry to make three demands related to traffic regulations — that motorcycles and scooters above 250cc be allowed on highways, that all motorcycles and scooters be allowed on inside lanes, and that driver and rider training programs be reformed. The ministry said that it has no plans to allow motorcycles on national highways for the time being, and said that motorcycles would be allowed on the inner