Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) lawmakers yesterday vowed to work together to oppose the nominees for new National Communications Commission (NCC) members after a media tycoon was said to have intervened in the nominating process.
Chinese-language media reported that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government originally tapped Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER) division director Liu Po-li (劉柏立) to chair the nation’s broadcast media and telecoms regulator. The nomination was allegedly canceled because of the intervention of a Taiwanese media tycoon, although the media reports did not identify who that person was.
“Despite extensive media coverage on the intervention from the media tycoon, the Presidential Office, Executive Yuan and the DPP have yet to retort, deny or comment on any of the allegations,” KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said. “Is the DPP tacitly confirming these allegations, and letting speculations run wild in the news media while testing the public reaction and controlling the narrative on this matter?”
Photo: Yang Mien-chieh, Taipei Times
Hung said the new NCC commissioners should be nominated by premier-designate Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) after he takes office on May 20, rather than by Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁), with the nominees being approved by the Legislative Yuan later.
Liu was said to replace NCC Chairman Chen Yaw-shyang (陳耀祥), whose term expires in July.
Meanwhile, National Taiwan Normal University Graduate Institute of Mass Communication professor Chen Ping-hung (陳炳宏), Shih Hsin University communications management assistant professor Lo Huei-wen (羅慧雯) and NCC Department of Platform and Business director Chan I-Lien (詹懿廉) were reported to be nominated to replace three outgoing NCC commissioners: NCC Vice Chairman Wong Po-tsung (翁柏宗), and NCC commissioners Lin Li-yun (林麗雲) and Wang Wei-ching (王維菁), whose terms also expire in July.
The nominees are known for their expertise in telecommunications and media studies, rather than their political footprint.
KMT caucus deputy secretary Wang Hong-wei (王鴻薇) said the media tycoon was said to have influenced the nominations of new NCC commissioners through former DPP legislator Pan Meng-an (潘孟安), who has been designated the new Presidential Office secretary-general.
Canceling Liu’s nomination would be the biggest scandal in the communications sector, Wang said.
“Now everybody knows that the NCC is not only controlled by the DPP, but is also controlled by a powerful media group. The new government should explain itself once it takes office,” Wang said.
TPP Legislator Lin Kuo-cheng (林國成) said his caucus would work with the KMT caucus in reviewing the nominations of new NCC commissioners.
“The DPP still thinks that it can do whatever it wants when it comes to the nominations of new NCC commissioners. As an opposition party, we will work with the KMT for the sake of the truth and the people,” he said.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric