The government will not fully open local media to Chinese advertising and will maintain its ban on real estate and investment advertisements, a Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) official said last week.
The legislature’s Internal Administration Committee on Thursday deferred the screening of amendments to regulations governing Chinese advertisements for products and services on the local market because of a boycott by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, who said permitting Chinese ads would enable China to manipulate Taiwanese media.
If passed, the amendments would allow Chinese firms to advertise products and services in Taiwanese media without requiring permission from the Taiwanese government.
MAC spokesman Liu Te-shun (劉德勳) on Friday said the MAC had convened at least two supra-ministerial meetings and an initial resolution had been reached that includes the proviso that ads for Chinese products would only be allowed in Taiwanese media if the products being advertised are actually sold in Taiwan.
This means that property ads and investment-soliciting ads by China’s central and local governments, as well as ads promoting images of Chinese enterprises and ads for China’s official or semi-official activities, would not be permitted, Liu said.
Liu said there was “no need” for the 8,000 items of Chinese products currently allowed to be sold in Taiwan to be advertised because they already have clear and distinctive product positioning.
However, there was a need for Chinese firms to advertise products and services that are currently not available in Taiwan and are seeking a clear brand image following increasingly frequent exchanges between Taiwan and China — such as law firms, product patent rights, intellectual property rights and corporate image, Liu said.
There is still room for discussion on whether these types of advertisements should be allowed, he said.
At present, Chinese advertisers must obtain permission to advertise in Taiwanese media, according to Article 34 of the Statute Governing Relations Between Peoples of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (台灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例).
However, until the statute is amended, the government will continue to impose fines on media outlets that carry illegal ads, Liu said.
Since 2003, the Ministry of the Interior has issued 20 fines to local media outlets for illegally running real estate advertisements placed by Chinese firms, including one each to the Taipei-based China Times and the Commercial Times last month, statistics showed.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
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
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS