The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday asked the management of Da Ai TV to come to its offices in Taipei to answer questions, as it reviews the network’s application to renew its license.
The network, which is funded by the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation, applied to renew its license as it expires on April 14, the commission said.
The commission said that it has convened an independent committee of experts in media and other fields to review the application.
After closely examining the network’s performance since it obtained its license in 2014, the committee has identified two main issues and needs the network’s management to explain them in detail, it said.
First, the network abruptly terminated the broadcast of its self-produced television series Jiachang’s Heart (智子之心) after airing two episodes in 2018 on May 10 and May 11, the commission said, adding that the move resulted in 48 consumer complaints.
Second, the network’s handling of the news concerning the foundation’s request to set up a logistics center and a factory on a 4.4 hectare plot in Taipei’s Neihu District (內湖) in 2015 represented a clear conflict of interest, the commission said.
NCC commissioners considered a recommendation from the committee and yesterday ruled that Da Ai TV must send its management to the commission to explain how the network plans to address the two issues, the commission said.
Jiachang’s Heart, which tells the story of the foundation volunteer Lin Chih-hui (林智惠), was reportedly canceled due to online criticism from Chinese, who said that it “romanticized” the 1937-1945 Second Sino-Japanese War.
Lin served as a military nurse for Japan in Hong Kong and Guangzhou, China, during the war.
The NCC launched an administrative investigation into the matter after receiving complaints from viewers.
Da Ai TV executives initially conceded in a meeting with commissioners that the network was negligent for canceling the series without notifying the public in advance, saying that their decisionmaking process was rash.
They later reversed their position, saying that it canceled the TV series “for fear that certain imagery could trigger altercations between different ethnic groups, which goes against the network’s founding purpose to promote social harmony.”
‘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