The government yesterday refused to bow to demands recently made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislative caucus that the budget for the Public Television Service (PTS) be used as a mechanism to screen the public broadcaster’s news coverage and programming.
“Any programs broadcast by PTS will not be censored by the government in advance or afterwards,” said Vanessa Shih (史亞平), minister of the Government Information Office (GIO), the regulatory agency of the PTS Foundation.
PTS published a statement in major Chinese-language newspapers yesterday saying that a draft legislative motion proposed by the KMT caucus would severely infringe upon its operations, which should be independent from political parties, the government and the military.
On Tuesday during a legislative committee meeting, the KMT proposed that PTS would require prior item-by-item approval from the GIO for all budgetary spending.
The KMT’s motion also demanded that the Council of Indigenous Peoples, the Council of Hakka Affairs and the Overseas Compatriot Affairs Commission be responsible for the operations of Taiwan Indigenous Television, Hakka Television Station and Taiwan Macroview TV respectively, in terms of screening and supervising of the production of their programs.
KMT lawmakers wanted to attach the motion to the service’s budget to make it binding.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩) accused the KMT caucus of interfering with the media, saying that the country’s democracy would take a big step backward should the motion pass the legislature.
“It’s really pathetic that the KMT would meddle in public broadcasting to prevent dissenting views in order to protect its authoritarian rule,” Chiu said.
KMT legislative caucus whip Lin Yi-shih (林益世) rebutted the accusation, saying that the motion was merely intended to urge the government agencies to be responsible for the TV stations they supervise, not to interfere with the media.
The Association of Taiwan Journalists called on the KMT caucus to withdraw the motion, which it said would compromise the independence of the media to the extent of the Martial Law era.
PTS hasn’t been able to use NT$450 million (US$13.5 million), the budget earmarked for the second half year of this year, as it has remained frozen by the KMT-controlled legislature.
Shih said the government would continue to communicate with the KMT caucus to unfreeze the budget and ensure the interests of PTS staffers remained unaffected.
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is constructing a new counter-stealth radar system on a disputed reef in the South China Sea that would significantly expand its surveillance capabilities in the region, satellite imagery suggests. Analysis by London-based think tank Chatham House suggests China is upgrading its outpost on Triton Island (Jhongjian Island, 中建島) on the southwest corner of the Paracel Islands (Xisha Islands, 西沙群島), building what might be a launching point for an anti-ship missile battery and sophisticated radar system. “By constraining the US ability to operate stealth aircraft, and threaten stealth aircraft, these capabilities in the South China Sea send
HAVANA: Repeated blackouts have left residents of the Cuban capital concerned about food, water supply and the nation’s future, but so far, there have been few protests Maria Elena Cardenas, 76, lives in a municipal shelter on Amargura Street in Havana’s colonial old town. The building has an elegant past, but for the last few days Maria has been cooking with sticks she had found on the street. “You know, we Cubans manage the best we can,” she said. She lives in the shelter because her home collapsed, a regular occurrence in the poorest, oldest parts of the beautiful city. Cuba’s government has spent the last days attempting to get the island’s national grid functioning after repeated island-wide blackouts. Without power, sleep becomes difficult in the heat, food
Botswana is this week holding a presidential election energized by a campaign by one previous head-of-state to unseat his handpicked successor whose first term has seen rising discontent amid a downturn in the diamond-dependent economy. The charismatic Ian Khama dramatically returned from self-exile six weeks ago determined to undo what he has called a “mistake” in handing over in 2018 to Botswanan President Mokgweetsi Masisi, who seeks re-election tomorrow. While he cannot run as president again having served two terms, Khama has worked his influence and standing to support the opposition in the southern African country of 2.6 million people. “The return of
SOUTH CHINA SEA TENSIONS: Beijing’s ‘pronounced aggressiveness’ and ‘misbehavior’ forced countries to band together, the Philippine defense chief said The Philippines is confident in the continuity of US policies in the Asia-Pacific region after the US presidential election, Philippine Secretary of Defense Gilberto Teodoro said, underlining that bilateral relations would remain strong regardless of the outcome. The alliance between the two countries is anchored in shared security goals and a commitment to uphold international law, including in the contested waters of the South China Sea, Teodoro said. “Our support for initiatives, bilaterally and multilaterally ... is bipartisan, aside from the fact that we are operating together on institutional grounds, on foundational grounds,” Teodoro said in an interview. China’s “misbehavior” in the South
RSS