The government yesterday designated Phoenix Television a Chinese-funded company, a move that should force the network to close its office in Taiwan.
The government has imposed tighter restrictions on Chinese companies seeking to invest in Taiwan as political and military tensions between Taipei and Beijing increase.
Beijing has ramped up pressure since President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) came to power in 2016, as she rejects its “one China” principle.
.Photo: screen grab from Phoenix Television
The Mainland Affairs Council said that “stock transfers and personnel changes” had turned Phoenix TV into a de facto Chinese state-controlled entity.
Authorities have demanded that the company either stop operating in Taiwan, pull its investment or “rectify” the situation, the council said in a statement.
Phoenix TV’s offices in Taipei and Hong Kong did not respond to requests for comment.
Headquartered in Hong Kong, Phoenix TV is partially state-owned, and offers Mandarin and Cantonese-language programming, including news reports that hews to Beijing’s government.
Its audience is mostly Chinese speakers in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, as well as the overseas ethnic Chinese diaspora.
Filings with the Hong Kong stock exchange show that its largest shareholder is Bauhinia Culture Holdings Ltd (紫荊文化集團), a Chinese government-owned company.
The Chinese-language Liberty Times (the sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday reported that Phoenix TV was planning to close its office in Taipei next month and lay off all 25 Taiwanese employees after a six-month negotiation with regulators made no headway.
Under Taiwanese regulations, a company is considered a Chinese investment if a Chinese entity owns more than 30 percent of its shares or has “effective control” over its operations.
Online marketplace Taobao Taiwan, registered as a foreign firm through its operator — a UK venture investment company — was forced to close in 2020 after the government ruled that it was controlled by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (阿里巴巴).
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from