Sat, Nov 05, 2005 page3

• Yao turns attention to former GIO directors

  TVBS UPROAR The GIO boss said he would investigate how the station managed to have its original license approved back in 1999, when Cheng Chien-jen was head

  • By Jimmy Chuang / STAFF REPORTER
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  Government Information Office (GIO) Minister Pasuya Yao (姚文智) yesterday implied that former GIO officials, including Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強), were possibly involved in irregularities relating to the TVBS controversy.

  Yao continued to insist that TVBS is 100 percent foreign-owned, which is against the law.

  The station yesterday sent an explanation of its shareholding structure to the office as requested by the GIO. The GIO had given the station a deadline of 6pm yesterday; the reply was delivered about 3pm.

  

  Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Kung Wen-chi speaks during the debate on TVBS share structure yesterday at the Legislative Yuan.

  PHOTO: LIU HSIN-DE, TAIPEI TIMES

  But last night, Yao appeared to retract his comments, saying that the problem dated only back to 1999, when the station was finally given a license, and Cheng Chien-jen (程建人) was in charge.

  He also denied talking about Hu earlier in the day, blaming media reports for misrepresenting him.

  Yao earlier said TVBS should never have been allowed to be established in the first place.

  

  Minister of the Interior Su Jia-chyuan, right, tells the legislature yesterday that police have stepped up protection of Government Information Office Minister Pasuya Yao. The GIO chief has been receiving telephone threats after two KMT lawmakers publicized his office and home phone numbers as part of the controversy over TVBS. Premier Frank Hsieh looks on.

  PHOTO: LIU HSIN-DE, TAIPEI TIMES

  He also said he would investigate if Hu -- who headed the GIO in 1993 when the station was set up -- as well as any other GIO employees, had "made mistakes."

  "I will try to work out whether Hu and staff members of the GIO made any mistakes, got involved in any sort of alleged scandals and so on," he said.

  When asked why the GIO's evaluation committee had approved the station's license-renewal application at the end of July if the GIO believed that TVBS was violating the law, Yao said "the evaluation process was not well organized."

  "Our review and evaluation were based on documents that were submitted by applicants. From that information, we did not notice that the ratio of TVBS' foreign shareholders exceeded 50 percent, which is against the law," Yao said.

  In response to Yao's comments, Hu said yesterday that Yao was "thinking too much."

  "It is not difficult to find out whether there was anything wrong, because the relevant documents are still retrievable," the mayor said.

  Hu reminded reporters that the Satellite Broadcasting Law (衛星廣播電視法), which stipulates that foreign shareholdings in a station or newspaper cannot exceed 50 percent, was approved in 1996, while TVBS was established three years earlier.

  He said that it was OK for him to be questioned, but it was more important to learn the truth.

  "I think Yao will owe me an apology if the evidence clears my name," Hu said.

  Meanwhile, TVBS provided a summary of its response to the GIO to reporters yesterday.

  According to the summery, TVBS told the GIO that it was not in violation of the law and that all of its operations are legal.

  "TVBS is owned by two shareholders. The major shareholder is a 100 percent Taiwanese company although its budget came from abroad," the statement read.

  "The law regulates that shares directly owned by foreigners cannot exceed 50 percent but it does not stipulate anything about indirect foreign shares," the statement read.
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