Public Television Service (PTS) chairman Cheng Tung-liao (鄭同僚) yesterday appealed to the Control Yuan to investigate the Government Information Office (GIO) for allegedly interfering with the television service.
Control Yuan member Yeh Yao-peng (葉耀鵬) accepted the appeal on behalf of the institution.
On Dec. 10 last year, the government watchdog censured the office after then-GIO minister Su Jun-pin (蘇俊賓) appointed eight members to the PTS’ board and confirmed their appointments without informing the Democratic Progressive Party of its right to recommend three new members.
The appeal accuses the office of ignoring the Control Yuan’s censure. The appeal also says that over the past eight months, the office has taken action six times against seven members of the PTS board, including asking for an injunction to suspend their positions and asking courts to annul decisions made by the board, in a bid to paralyze the television service.
Cheng said he hopes the Control Yuan will look into how the GIO raised the funds for the lawsuits and hold GIO officials responsible for “squandering public funds.”
At a separate setting yesterday, the National Communications Commission (NCC) said it would not intervene in the PTS’ personnel dispute and can only review the change of board directors.
“The Public Television Service is under the supervision of the GIO. The commission can only ascertain whether the board meeting determining the appointment of board directors is held legally and if the newly-appointed board members fulfill the qualification requirements stated in the Broadcasting and Television Act (廣播電視法),” NCC spokesperson Chen Jeng-chang (陳正倉) said. “We do not have right to intervene in the PTS’ management change and the dispute between the GIO and the PTS.”
Chen added the commission does not want the dispute between GIO and PTS to affect the interests of the viewers.
The commission yesterday approved the appointment of Lin Chih-hsing (林志興) as the new board director of the PTS.
Despite the NCC’s approval, Lin and Cheng, as well as five other board directors, can neither attend board meetings nor ask others to exercise their rights on their behalf, because of a provisional disposition leveled against them by the GIO on the grounds that they had illegally convened board meetings and made rulings on important cases.
‘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
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS