Radio Taiwan International’s (RTI) renting of airtime to China’s Guangdong Television for its Zhibo Quanqiu (直播全球, World Broadcast) program amounts to assisting efforts to unify Taiwan and China, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Tuan Yi-kang (段宜康) said yesterday.
Tuan said the use of the radio station’s facilities by Chinese media demonstrated a pro-China stance, as Radio Taiwan International (RTI) is supposed to be a mouthpiece for the government and generally broadcasts information about government policy.
Aside from renting out space at the station to Chinese media at a low cost, the station has also invited Chinese National Party (KMT) supporter and radio host Tang Hsiang-lung (唐湘龍) on numerous occasions to provide commentary, all of which Tuan said adds up to a significant problem for the government.
In a previous contract from March to June last year, Shenzhen Jiangqing Culture Media rented two hours of airtime twice per week, paying the station NT$9,000 per broadcast, Tuan said, adding that content was produced on behalf of Guanddong Television, which the station then edited and uploaded to China’s Baidu cloud storage.
The fixed price to use the station’s facilities for four hours is NT$22,000, with additional fees incurred for direction, filming and editing, Tuan said, adding that NT$9,000 for two hours was unreasonably low.
Guandong Television’s program regularly addresses controversial political topics from a pro-China perspective, Tuan said, citing comments by Tang in support of a visit by China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Minister Zhang Zhijun (張志軍), as well as comments in support of China’s position in the South China Sea dispute.
“This is the equivalent of using Taiwan’s resources to spread Chinese government propaganda,” Tuan said.
Tuan also said that station board chairman Sunshine Kuang (曠湘霞), who had previously held the post in 2009, is turning 65 soon and should “pass on the baton,” citing a 2014 letter from the Executive Yuan that said the station’s chairman should not be older than 65.
Station spokesperson Rachel Luo (羅秋香) said that it lacks funding and relies on the rental of its facilities for income.
“We rent to anyone who comes to us with money,” Luo said, adding that the station does not take any political stances and that it hopes to receive more government funding.
Station director Weber Lai (賴祥蔚) said on Facebook that the station is a base from which Taiwan is marketed to the world, asking rhetorically: “Who exactly is employing a ‘united front’ against whom?”
DEFENSE: The National Security Bureau promised to expand communication and intelligence cooperation with global partners and enhance its strategic analytical skills China has not only increased military exercises and “gray zone” tactics against Taiwan this year, but also continues to recruit military personnel for espionage, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday in a report to the Legislative Yuan. The bureau submitted the report ahead of NSB Director-General Tsai Ming-yen’s (蔡明彥) appearance before the Foreign and National Defense Committee today. Last year, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted “Joint Sword-2024A and B” military exercises targeting Taiwan and carried out 40 combat readiness patrols, the bureau said. In addition, Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan’s airspace 3,070 times last year, up about
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 8:31am today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was located in Hualien County, about 70.3 kilometers south southwest of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 23.2km, according to the administration. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County, where it measured 3 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 2 in Hualien and Nantou counties, the CWA said.
The Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) yesterday announced a fundraising campaign to support survivors of the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck Myanmar on March 28, with two prayer events scheduled in Taipei and Taichung later this week. “While initial rescue operations have concluded [in Myanmar], many survivors are now facing increasingly difficult living conditions,” OCAC Minister Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) told a news conference in Taipei. The fundraising campaign, which runs through May 31, is focused on supporting the reconstruction of damaged overseas compatriot schools, assisting students from Myanmar in Taiwan, and providing essential items, such as drinking water, food and medical supplies,
New Party Deputy Secretary-General You Chih-pin (游智彬) this morning went to the National Immigration Agency (NIA) to “turn himself in” after being notified that he had failed to provide proof of having renounced his Chinese household registration. He was one of more than 10,000 naturalized Taiwanese citizens from China who were informed by the NIA that their Taiwanese citizenship might be revoked if they fail to provide the proof in three months, people familiar with the matter said. You said he has proof that he had renounced his Chinese household registration and demanded the NIA provide proof that he still had Chinese
RSS