A student protest blocked off the parking lot outside the Taipei offices of TVBS yesterday, drawing a lively throng of reporters and demonstrators.
Camera crews from major domestic TV networks descended on the demonstration as police from the Taipei City Police Department's Zhongzheng First Police District Station were dispatched to the scene.
The only camera crew missing from the raucous event was that of TVBS, even though the demonstration was literally on the network's doorstep.
But TVBS reporters had good reason not to be at the protest. The protesters' grievances were directed at TVBS; they had come to demand an apology from the network for recent news coverage they claimed had violated the privacy and human rights of New York Yankees pitcher Wang Chien-ming (王建民).
"All six major TV news networks have violated the Wangs' privacy but TVBS' coverage was the most objectionable and led to the media frenzy that infringed on the Wang family's human rights," the protesters said.
The revelation by Wang that he was adopted, revealed in a recent interview with the New York Times, led to reporters besieging his family members for interviews.
On Aug. 17, Wang issued an open letter stating that he would no longer grant interviews to the Taiwanese media due to the harassment of his family.
"TVBS come out! TVBS apologize!" the protesters -- some clad in New York Yankees baseball caps and jerseys -- shouted in unison.
Black Camry cars with tinted windows, marked as TVBS-owned vehicles, periodically drove through the outside parking lot during the four-hour protest, but none stopped.
Finally, after two hours in the rain, a TVBS representative exited the building to address the protesters personally.
"I've been instructed to tell you that I have passed along [your request for an apology] to my superiors," the representative told the protesters.
"What about an apology?" protesters asked.
"I have passed along your concerns to my superiors," the representative repeated and returned behind the line of police.
"They sent a low-level manager to tell us that they would pass our message along," said Lee Ming-tsung (李明璁), a professor of sociology at Taiwan National University and organizer of yesterday's rally.
More than three hours into the demonstration, Lee and other organizers agreed through police intermediaries to meet with a TVBS spokesperson in the building, alone.
Another hour passed before Lee and other protesters emerged from their closed-door meeting with TVBS.
"A high-level spokesman did apologize," Lee announced. "He said that TVBS was sorry and that the network's coverage of Wang in this case was inappropriate. He told us that TVBS will issue a formal apology on its Web site, and it is possible that TVBS will apologize on air, too."
He added that although such an apology was rare in the history of Taiwanese media, he was disappointed that TVBS representatives hadn't apologized in person and on record.
He also said that he would lead a boycott of TVBS programs if the network failed to follow through with its commitment to publicly apologize.
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
RSS