Foreign media and the international community should be concerned about the possibility of press freedom and freedom of speech being oppressed in Taiwan, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) said yesterday.
The KMT made the call at an international news conference in Taipei ahead of the CTi News channel going off the air at 12am today.
The National Communications Commission (NCC) on Nov. 18 said that it would not renew CTi News’ broadcast license, citing “repeated violations of regulations and the failure of its internal discipline and control mechanisms.”
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
CTi TV has said that the NCC’s decision was politically motivated, as CTi News is known for being critical of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration and friendly toward China.
The Taipei High Administrative Court on Monday rejected a request by CTi TV for an injunction to prevent the shutdown of its CTi News channel, meaning that CTi News is to cease broadcasting on local TV networks from today.
The DPP government cannot dismiss a news channel because it disagrees with government positions on matters, as it is the media’s role to oversee the government, not become its mouthpiece, KMT Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) told the news conference.
Freedom of the press is a basic human right and President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration denying it greatly harms Taiwan’s international image of having freedom of speech, he said.
“One wonders whether Taiwan is still a democracy, or under an authoritarian government, as the government weeds out opinions and voices contrary to its own,” he said.
The NCC’s refusal to extend CTi News’ license undercuts claims that the commission is independent, Chiang said, adding that the suspicion is that it has infringed on democratic freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution.
The KMT cited files, allegedly leaked from the Presidential Office in May, as evidence that the NCC’s refusal to extend the license was a predetermined decision, not based on CTi having “failed to self-regulate.”
On May 15, an e-mail account named “ser lo” sent to members of the media on the Presidential Office’s contact list two e-mails containing several files, purportedly documents prepared by aides for two meetings between Tsai and Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) regarding the selection of members of Tsai’s second-term Cabinet.
One of the documents reportedly said that of the three newly appointed NCC commissioners, two were pan-green in ideology and could “assist with handling CTi News.”
Meanwhile, former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) told the news conference that a statement issued on Nov. 18 by Reporters Without Borders “does not resemble commentary from professional media personnel.”
The statement said that the decision not to renew CTi News’ license was “regrettable, but does not go against press freedom.”
Press freedom does not mean “without regulations” and the review of the license was a legitimate action, the statement said.
It is interesting that the organization’s reaction differed from the past, Chiang said, adding that the ratio of media in Taiwan that oversee the government to that which critique the opposition is heavily skewed in the government’s favor.
CTi News provided information for the public to form their own opinions and its removal was, essentially, divesting the public of differing opinions and commentary, Ma said, adding that unless one lives in an autocratic nation, shutting down a TV station harms press freedom.
Additional reporting by CNA
EVA Airways today confirmed the death of a flight attendant on Saturday upon their return to Taiwan and said an internal investigation has been launched, as criticism mounted over a social media post accusing the airline of failing to offer sufficient employee protections. According to the post, the flight attendant complained of feeling sick on board a flight, but was unable to take sick leave or access medical care. The crew member allegedly did not receive assistance from the chief purser, who failed to heed their requests for medical attention or call an ambulance once the flight landed, the post said. As sick
A drunk woman was sexually assaulted inside a crowded concourse of Taipei Railway Station on Thursday last week before a foreign tourist notified police, leading to calls for better education on bystander intervention and review of security infrastructure. The man, surnamed Chiu (邱), was taken into custody on charges of sexual assault, taking advantage of the woman’s condition and public indecency. Police discovered that Chiu was a fugitive with prior convictions for vehicle theft. He has been taken into custody and is to complete his unserved six-month sentence, police said. On Thursday last week, Chiu was seen wearing a white
EVA Airways, one of the leading international carriers in Taiwan, yesterday said that it was investigating reports that a cabin crew manager had ignored the condition of a sick flight attendant, who died on Saturday. The airline made the statement in response to a post circulating on social media that said that the flight attendant on an outbound flight was feeling sick and notified the cabin crew manager. Although the flight attendant grew increasingly ill on the return flight, the manager did not contact Medlink — a system that connects the aircraft to doctors on the ground for treatment advice during medical
The Taichung District Court yesterday confirmed its final ruling that the marriage between teenage heir Lai (賴) and a man surnamed Hsia (夏) was legally invalid, preventing Hsia from inheriting Lai’s NT$500 million (US$16.37 million) estate. The court confirmed that Hsia chose not to appeal the civil judgement after the court handed down its ruling in June, making the decision final. In the June ruling, the court said that Lai, 18, and Hsia, 26, showed “no mutual admiration before the marriage” and that their interactions were “distant and unfamiliar.” The judge concluded that the couple lacked the “true intention of
RSS