DPP Legislator Trong Chai (
Chai announced his resignation yesterday afternoon in a press conference after attending a meeting with the board of directors. Chai, the founder of the TV station, will be succeeded by the company's vice chairman, Tien Tsai-ting (
"To comply with the DPP's long-standing policy of freeing the media of political influence, I've actually been prepared to withdraw from Formosa TV for a long time and have talked this matter over with the president," Chai said.
"I am more interested in politics and my involvement in the TV industry is just a sideline to my political career. Therefore, it is impossible for me to quit my main job as a legislator," he said.
"I sincerely hope that Chen will be re-elected next year. My resignation will play an important part of [realizing] Chen's promise to the public," Chai said.
Chai founded Formosa TV in 1996, a station known for its pro-DPP stance.
While promising to quit his media post, Chai urged the KMT yesterday to withdraw from the operations of the China Television Company (
The KMT is the dominant shareholder in both companies.
DPP Secretary-General Chang Chun-hsiung (
Chang said the resignation is a responsible action and shows Chai's commitment to the DPP, adding Chai is a member of DPP's Central Standing Committee.
Tien, the new chairman, said yesterday, "Though Chai has resigned, we still see a very slow withdrawal of political and military forces from the media. We hope that Chai's resignation will serve as a model for other parties and politicians who are still involved in the media.
"We appreciate Chai's contributions and efforts for Formosa TV, where he built a unique broadcasting culture," Tien said.
Prior to Chai's announcement, local media reported that the Presidential Office had tried to interfere with the appointment of the new chairman, as it was allegedly not satisfied with Tien taking over.
The report said Chai was supposed to meet with Chen yesterday morning and inform the president of his decision. However, the meeting was canceled as Chen didn't want to accept Chai's favor, the report said.
"It was just a miscommunication between the Presidential Office and me about the time of the meeting," Chai said.
Presidential Office spokesman James Huang (
"We disagreed with the contents of the report, which is biased and misleading," Huang said.
Huang said the president's goal is to remove political influence from the media and, therefore, would not interfere himself.
In a Central Standing Committee meeting on June 11, the DPP delivered its ultimatum that all party members must relinquish control in media industries before Sept. 5.
INVESTIGATION: The case is the latest instance of a DPP figure being implicated in an espionage network accused of allegedly leaking information to Chinese intelligence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) member Ho Jen-chieh (何仁傑) was detained and held incommunicado yesterday on suspicion of spying for China during his tenure as assistant to then-minister of foreign affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮). The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said Ho was implicated during its investigation into alleged spying activities by former Presidential Office consultant Wu Shang-yu (吳尚雨). Prosecutors said there is reason to believe Ho breached the National Security Act (國家安全法) by leaking classified Ministry of Foreign Affairs information to Chinese intelligence. Following interrogation, prosecutors petitioned the Taipei District Court to detain Ho, citing concerns over potential collusion or tampering of evidence. The
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
Seventy percent of middle and elementary schools now conduct English classes entirely in English, the Ministry of Education said, as it encourages schools nationwide to adopt this practice Minister of Education (MOE) Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) is scheduled to present a report on the government’s bilingual education policy to the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee today. The report would outline strategies aimed at expanding access to education, reducing regional disparities and improving talent cultivation. Implementation of bilingual education policies has varied across local governments, occasionally drawing public criticism. For example, some schools have required teachers of non-English subjects to pass English proficiency
TRADE: The premier pledged safeguards on ‘Made in Taiwan’ labeling, anti-dumping measures and stricter export controls to strengthen its position in trade talks Products labeled “made in Taiwan” must be genuinely made in Taiwan, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday, vowing to enforce strict safeguards against “origin laundering” and initiate anti-dumping investigations to prevent China dumping its products in Taiwan. Cho made the remarks in a discussion session with representatives from industries in Kaohsiung. In response to the US government’s recent announcement of “reciprocal” tariffs on its trading partners, President William Lai (賴清德) and Cho last week began a series of consultations with industry leaders nationwide to gather feedback and address concerns. Taiwanese and US officials held a videoconference on Friday evening to discuss the
RSS