The much-anticipated National Communications Commission (NCC) was officially launched yesterday, with its nine members unanimously choosing Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-backed Su Yeong-chin (
The first NCC meeting, mandated by law, also elected Shyr Shry-hau (
Su said after the election that both the chairman and two vice chairmen were elected by the NCC members themselves.
Each position was put to the vote once, and the results were finalized after three elections in total. All three officials were approved by the NCC members without any opposition, Su said.
He denied that the commission members had struck a deal on the election beforehand, adding that the three top officials represent different parties, which fulfils the law's requirement for diversity in the NCC.
The meeting yesterday revealed neither a specific plan nor a timetable for what the commission attempts to accomplish this year.
"The most important thing right now [to the commission] is to win the trust of the people," Su said.
The legislature approved the Organic Law of the National Communications Commission (
Except for Lu Chung-chin (
Last week, three of the nominees -- Chen Ming-syan (
For the remaining nine commission members, seven are backed by the KMT, and one each by the DPP and Taiwan Solidarity Union. In terms of their expertise, three commission members are representatives from the media, four are legal experts, one is a telecommunications professional and one is a consumer advocate.
In response to concern that the composition of the NCC could allow party politics to interfere with the operation of administrative agencies, Su said yesterday that the NCC is an independent body responsible for executing the nation's media laws.
It is also charged with the mission of regulating the telecommunications, information and broadcasting sectors, he said.
Su added that the commission cannot propose legislation, but could offer suggestions independent of both the Executive Yuan and the parliament.
He said that the lack of representation from the telecommunications industry would not be an issue.
In addition to the commission members, the NCC will recruit an additional 500 to 700 employees from the ranks of former employees of the broadcasting division of the Government Information Office and the Directorate-General of Telecommunications.
CHANGING LANDSCAPE: Many of the part-time programs for educators were no longer needed, as many teachers obtain a graduate degree before joining the workforce, experts said Taiwanese universities this year canceled 86 programs, Ministry of Education data showed, with educators attributing the closures to the nation’s low birthrate as well as shifting trends. Fifty-three of the shuttered programs were part-time postgraduate degree programs, about 62 percent of the total, the most in the past five years, the data showed. National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) discontinued the most part-time master’s programs, at 16: chemistry, life science, earth science, physics, fine arts, music, special education, health promotion and health education, educational psychology and counseling, education, design, Chinese as a second language, library and information sciences, mechatronics engineering, history, physical education
The Chinese military has boosted its capability to fight at a high tempo using the element of surprise and new technology, the Ministry of National Defense said in the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) published on Monday last week. The ministry highlighted Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) developments showing significant changes in Beijing’s strategy for war on Taiwan. The PLA has made significant headway in building capabilities for all-weather, multi-domain intelligence, surveillance, operational control and a joint air-sea blockade against Taiwan’s lines of communication, it said. The PLA has also improved its capabilities in direct amphibious assault operations aimed at seizing strategically important beaches,
New Taipei City prosecutors have indicted a cram school teacher in Sinjhuang District (新莊) for allegedly soliciting sexual acts from female students under the age of 18 three times in exchange for cash payments. The man, surnamed Su (蘇), committed two offenses in 2023 and one last year, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. The office in recent days indicted Su for contraventions of the Child and Youth Sexual Exploitation Prevention Act (兒童及少年性剝削防制條例), which prohibits "engaging in sexual intercourse or lewd acts with a minor over the age of 16, but under the age of 18 in exchange for
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty