The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday issued an ultimatum to former Broadcasting Corporation of China (BCC) chairman Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康), demanding that he and his wife Liang Lei (梁蕾) reduce her shares in the company to less than 10 percent within 15 days.
"Should Jaw fail to comply with this mandate," NCC spokesman Howard Shyr (
The BCC was purchased by four companies, allegedly all controlled by Jaw, in June last year.
Shyr said Jaw must present the commission with documentation proving that Liang has reduced her shares from 34 percent to 10 percent by March 20.
Shyr said that the commission would not negotiate the case or wait any longer for Jaw and his wife to comply. If Jaw retains his position at the BCC after the deadline the commission is entitled to penalize the company for violating regulations, he said.
Last June, the commission approved the BCC's application to change its ownership registration provided that the company adhere to several conditions set by the commission.
In addition to reducing Liang's stake, Jaw was banned from merging UFO Radio, which he owns, with the BCC, which the commission concluded should be run separately. The commission also required that BCC shares be traded publicly within two years of the change of ownership.
The BCC was further required to relinquish two radio frequencies once reserved to broadcast anti-communist propaganda.
Jaw originally agreed to reduce Liang's stake by Dec. 26 last year. In October, however, he announced his resignation as BCC chairman, citing "relentless persecution" by the government.
"The commission understood Jaw's plight, but he must still keep his promises," Shyr said.
The commission has since found that Jaw is still "heavily involved" in BCC operations.
The commission discussed the matter at its weekly meeting last week as well, but did not reach a consensus on what action to take.
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