The legislature’s Transportation Committee yesterday passed a resolution authorizing it to form an ad hoc panel to review documents related to Mirror News’ acquisition of an operational license from the National Communications Commission (NCC).
The resolution, proposed by the Taiwan People’s Party caucus, narrowly passed in a six-to-five vote with support from Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators. Committee chairman KMT Legislator Chen Hsueh-sheng (陳雪生) cast the tiebreaking vote.
The resolution was proposed amid concerns over how the news channel secured its license in January 2022.
Photo: Wu Liang-yi, Taipei Times
Mirror Media founder Pei Wei (裴偉) was accused of receiving a monthly consulting fee of NT$1.5 million (US$47,749) from the network even after he resigned as chairman and pledged not to interfere in the operations of the news channel.
Although Mirror News had stated in its business plan that the channel would neither produce nor broadcast political talk shows, it launched a political talk show in October last year ahead of the presidential and legislative elections in January.
The NCC has been criticized for helping Mirror News secure a license and not censuring the network when it failed to meet the commission’s conditions.
The resolution states that NCC Chairman Chen Yaw-shyang (陳耀祥) should have complied with legislative oversight in a professional and responsible manner.
Instead, he circumvented legislative questions on how Mirror News obtained the license with the tacit cooperation of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, it said.
“The NCC knew all along that the network contravened regulations, but it continued to delay turning over evidence, saying that ‘the case is under investigation’ or ‘the channel has been asked to rectify the situation.’ It showed contempt for the legislature and disrespect for the rule of the law... An ad hoc team should be formed to review relevant documents,” it said.
In response, Chen said that the NCC briefed lawmakers at the committee five times last year on the procedures the commission followed in handling the license application.
An ad hoc panel could cause the legislative branch to interfere in the operations of the executive branch, he added.
In a statement, the NCC called the committee’s resolution on a case it already ruled on “regrettable.”
“We have exhausted all administrative resources to investigate all major issues of concern, including Mirror News’ financial soundness, staffing situation, and frequent changes of shareholders and management,” the NCC said, adding that it had consulted with the Financial Supervisory Commission, Investment Commission, Ministry of Justice, Mainland Affairs Council, National Security Bureau and other agencies in the review process.
It used the highest standards and intensity to scrutinize cases related to Mirror News compared with similar cases, it said, adding that it had cooperated with prosecutors in investigating the network.
“Controversies over the network’s ownership changes are disputes of private rights and should be addressed through legal proceedings, rather than political intervention and by trying to influence public opinion. We will continue monitoring Mirror News to ensure it meets the conditions it agreed to in order to obtain the news channel license,” the commission said.
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