In view of the recent brouhaha over whether cable station TVBS should be shut down -- a majority of its shares are Chinese-owned, which violates the Satellite Broadcasting Law (
Chen's statement is tantamount to pardoning a monster. It is as if he is saying, "Come and get me, for no matter what you do, even if you attack me, I will not get you."
TVBS general manager Lee Tao (
Whether capital is from Hong Kong or China, it is not Taiwanese and is therefore foreign capital. The law stipulates that direct foreign investment in a TV station should not exceed 50 percent. Lee, therefore, was swearing on his life that TVBS is 100 percent funded by foreigners.
It's a clear violation of the law, so why has the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration taken so long to act?
Most likely one can attribute this to the administration's own wishful thinking that pro-China media outlets will be nicer to it in return for not intervening.
Apparently, the administration has not learned its lesson, despite the number of times it has been cut and bruised by the pro-China media with smearing and false accusations.
Sometimes, offense is the best defense. If the government can't be trusted to stand up for Taiwan's interests, then the task rests with the Taiwanese people.
The Northern Taiwan Society on Monday urged members of the public to donate NT$100 to help gather the necessary cash for the budget in lieu of the long-stalled arms-procurement bill.
The group expects that 1 million people will support the drive.
Coincidentally, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Alex Tsai (
NT$100 is not a very big sum. If both parties are serious about these proposals, it will be interesting to see how each group fares.
It could be viewed as a kind of pocket-change referendum on what the public prefers: maintaining national security or propping up a cable station that has willingly helped China push its agenda in Taiwan.
American civil-rights vanguard Rosa Parks, who passed away aged 92 last Monday, was the first woman to lie in honor in the US Capitol Rotunda -- a tribute formerly reserved for presidents, soldiers and prominent politicians. She was no shrewd legislator, charismatic politician nor an articulate talkshow host. She was but an ordinary woman who simply had the guts to say, "I'm tired of giving up my seat."
The majority of the Taiwanese public could learn from her example and end their mute reaction to pro-China media manipulation.
We need more people like Parks -- people who can dare to stand up and defend the dignity and pride of the Taiwanese and refuse to be bullied.
The government and local industries breathed a sigh of relief after Shin Kong Life Insurance Co last week said it would relinquish surface rights for two plots in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投) to Nvidia Corp. The US chip-design giant’s plan to expand its local presence will be crucial for Taiwan to safeguard its core role in the global artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem and to advance the nation’s AI development. The land in dispute is owned by the Taipei City Government, which in 2021 sold the rights to develop and use the two plots of land, codenamed T17 and T18, to the
Art and cultural events are key for a city’s cultivation of soft power and international image, and how politicians engage with them often defines their success. Representative to Austria Liu Suan-yung’s (劉玄詠) conducting performance and Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen’s (盧秀燕) show of drumming and the Tainan Jazz Festival demonstrate different outcomes when politics meet culture. While a thoughtful and professional engagement can heighten an event’s status and cultural value, indulging in political theater runs the risk of undermining trust and its reception. During a National Day reception celebration in Austria on Oct. 8, Liu, who was formerly director of the
US President Donald Trump has announced his eagerness to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un while in South Korea for the APEC summit. That implies a possible revival of US-North Korea talks, frozen since 2019. While some would dismiss such a move as appeasement, renewed US engagement with North Korea could benefit Taiwan’s security interests. The long-standing stalemate between Washington and Pyongyang has allowed Beijing to entrench its dominance in the region, creating a myth that only China can “manage” Kim’s rogue nation. That dynamic has allowed Beijing to present itself as an indispensable power broker: extracting concessions from Washington, Seoul
Taiwan’s labor force participation rate among people aged 65 or older was only 9.9 percent for 2023 — far lower than in other advanced countries, Ministry of Labor data showed. The rate is 38.3 percent in South Korea, 25.7 percent in Japan and 31.5 percent in Singapore. On the surface, it might look good that more older adults in Taiwan can retire, but in reality, it reflects policies that make it difficult for elderly people to participate in the labor market. Most workplaces lack age-friendly environments, and few offer retraining programs or flexible job arrangements for employees older than 55. As
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