The legislature’s Transportation Committee yesterday approved one nominee for the National Communications Commission (NCC), but suspended the review of another because of questions over her qualifications.
Chiang Yu-feng’s (江幽芬) nomination as NCC commissioner is to be confirmed at the plenary session, the committee said, but Wang Yung-ho’s (汪用和) nomination was held up as lawmakers questioned her family’s business ties to Beijing.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said that Wang Yung-ho’s uncle Wang Chao-yong (汪潮涌) works for a Beijing-based investment firm called ChinaEquity Group and is also an investor in a firm owned by Wang Yung-ho’s father that invests in value-added telecoms services.
Photo: CNA
These connections make Wang Yung-ho “an agent who helps Chinese investors invest in telecom services in Taiwan” and she should not be an NCC commissioner, Kuan said.
Wang Yung-ho said that Wang Chao-yong was a distant relative and that she calls him “uncle” out of respect for the elderly.
As to her father’s business, she said: “I am not sure whether the telecom services [that he invests in] fall under the NCC’s jurisdiction.”
DPP and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers then reached a consensus to discontinue the review of Wang Yung-ho’s nomination. She was also asked to leave the meeting.
According to Ministry of Economic Affairs data, the company owned by Wang Yung-ho’s father, Wang Da-hua (汪大華), provides conference and exhibition services.
Faced with mounting criticism from the committee over the Executive Yuan’s vetting procedures for the NCC nominee, Executive Yuan Secretary-General Steven Chen (陳士魁) promised to hand in a report within two months.
The controversy over Wang Yung-ho’s qualifications has persisted since the nomination was announced last year.
The new commissioners are to fill in and complete the terms left by the resignation of former commissioners Chang Shi-chung (張時中) and Chen Yuan-ling (陳元玲), who were supposed to serve until next year and 2016 respectively.
Though Wang Yung-ho has extensive experience as a TV news journalist and anchorwoman, her nomination as an NCC commissioner was viewed by many as a political favor. Aside from her being the wife of former KMT legislator Justin Chou (周守訓), Wang Yung-ho’s father also held key positions in the KMT and her brother ran for Taipei City councilor under the KMT banner.
Yesterday, Wang Yung-ho was also questioned if she opposed media monopoly and if she would finish her term.
“I absolutely oppose media monopoly and am determined to serve a full term,” she said.
Asked if she was willing to cancel her KMT membership to be able to serve as a commissioner unfettered by political affiliation, she said: “I don’t think allegations that I was nominated as a political favor would disappear even if I quit the KMT.”
“However, the fact that I am a KMT member will not affect my job as NCC commissioner. I intend to use my performance to win the public’s recognition,” she said.
While Wang Yung-ho’s nomination was riddled with controversy, Chiang sailed through the process, because she has been working as a legal expert at the commission since its establishment in 2006.
Prior to joining the commission, Chiang participated in the deliberation and amendments of three broadcasting acts and the Telecommunications Act (電信法).
READY: The CGA said it closely monitored China’s maritime exercise, deployed vessels to shadow the Chinese ships one-on-one and set up emergency response centers Chinese navy and coast guard ships have returned to China, signaling the end of a massive maritime exercise, authorities said yesterday. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) released images it said showed Chinese vessels sailing north in rough seas past Taiwan on Thursday, on their way to China. “All the Chinese coast guard went back to China yesterday, so although they have not officially made any announcement, we consider it over,” CGA Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) said. Beijing has not confirmed the drills and the Chinese Ministry of National Defense did not say whether the maneuvers had taken place when asked at a
People can take the Taipei MRT free of charge if they access it at Nanjing Sanmin Station or Taipei Arena Station on the Green Line between 12am and 6am on Jan. 1, the Taipei Department of Transportation said on Friday, outlining its plans to ease crowding during New Year’s events in the capital. More than 200,000 people are expected to attend New Year’s Eve events in Taipei, with singer A-mei (張惠妹) performing at the Taipei Dome and the city government’s New Year’s Eve party at Taipei City Hall Plaza, the department said. As people have tended to use the MRT’s Blue or
PUBLIC TRANSPORT: As some roads would be fully or partially closed, people are advised to take the MRT, with services expanded to accommodate more riders This year’s Taipei Marathon, which has obtained its first gold label certification from World Athletics, is to be held from 5am to 1pm tomorrow and would have 28,000 participants. The race is to start from the Taipei City Plaza and would go through major roads throughout the city, with traffic control implemented from 6am to 2pm, officials said. The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system and New Taipei City MRT Circle line would start operating at 5am on the day of the race, they said. The race would cover Renai Road, Xinyi Road, Hangzhou S Road, Aiguo east and west roads,
Taipei is participating in Osaka’s Festival of Lights this year, with a 3m-tall bubble tea light installation symbolizing Taiwan’s bubble tea culture. The installation is designed as a bubble tea cup and features illustrations of Taipei’s iconic landmarks, such as Taipei 101, the Red House and North Gate, as well as soup dumplings and the matchmaking deity the Old Man Under the Moon (月下老人), affectionately known as Yue Lao (月老). Taipei and Osaka have collaborated closely on tourism and culture since Taipei first participated in the festival in 2018, the Taipei City Department of Information and Tourism said. In February, Osaka represented
RSS