The legislature’s Transportation Committee yesterday passed a resolution authorizing it to form an ad hoc panel to review documents related to Mirror News’ acquisition of an operational license from the National Communications Commission (NCC).
The resolution, proposed by the Taiwan People’s Party caucus, narrowly passed in a six-to-five vote with support from Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators. Committee chairman KMT Legislator Chen Hsueh-sheng (陳雪生) cast the tiebreaking vote.
The resolution was proposed amid concerns over how the news channel secured its license in January 2022.
Photo: Wu Liang-yi, Taipei Times
Mirror Media founder Pei Wei (裴偉) was accused of receiving a monthly consulting fee of NT$1.5 million (US$47,749) from the network even after he resigned as chairman and pledged not to interfere in the operations of the news channel.
Although Mirror News had stated in its business plan that the channel would neither produce nor broadcast political talk shows, it launched a political talk show in October last year ahead of the presidential and legislative elections in January.
The NCC has been criticized for helping Mirror News secure a license and not censuring the network when it failed to meet the commission’s conditions.
The resolution states that NCC Chairman Chen Yaw-shyang (陳耀祥) should have complied with legislative oversight in a professional and responsible manner.
Instead, he circumvented legislative questions on how Mirror News obtained the license with the tacit cooperation of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, it said.
“The NCC knew all along that the network contravened regulations, but it continued to delay turning over evidence, saying that ‘the case is under investigation’ or ‘the channel has been asked to rectify the situation.’ It showed contempt for the legislature and disrespect for the rule of the law... An ad hoc team should be formed to review relevant documents,” it said.
In response, Chen said that the NCC briefed lawmakers at the committee five times last year on the procedures the commission followed in handling the license application.
An ad hoc panel could cause the legislative branch to interfere in the operations of the executive branch, he added.
In a statement, the NCC called the committee’s resolution on a case it already ruled on “regrettable.”
“We have exhausted all administrative resources to investigate all major issues of concern, including Mirror News’ financial soundness, staffing situation, and frequent changes of shareholders and management,” the NCC said, adding that it had consulted with the Financial Supervisory Commission, Investment Commission, Ministry of Justice, Mainland Affairs Council, National Security Bureau and other agencies in the review process.
It used the highest standards and intensity to scrutinize cases related to Mirror News compared with similar cases, it said, adding that it had cooperated with prosecutors in investigating the network.
“Controversies over the network’s ownership changes are disputes of private rights and should be addressed through legal proceedings, rather than political intervention and by trying to influence public opinion. We will continue monitoring Mirror News to ensure it meets the conditions it agreed to in order to obtain the news channel license,” the commission said.
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
RISING TOURISM: A survey showed that tourist visits increased by 35 percent last year, while newly created attractions contributed almost half of the growth Changhua County’s Lukang Old Street (鹿港老街) and its surrounding historical area clinched first place among Taiwan’s most successful tourist attractions last year, while no location in eastern Taiwan achieved a spot in the top 20 list, the Tourism Administration said. The listing was created by the Tourism Administration’s Forward-looking Tourism Policy Research office. Last year, the Lukang Old Street and its surrounding area had 17.3 million visitors, more than the 16 million visitors for the Wenhua Road Night Market (文化路夜市) in Chiayi City and 14.5 million visitors at Tainan’s Anping (安平) historical area, it said. The Taipei 101 skyscraper and its environs —
Taiwan on Friday said a New Zealand hamburger restaurant has apologized for a racist remark to a Taiwanese customer after reports that it had first apologized to China sparked outrage in Taiwan. An image posted on Threads by a Taiwanese who ate at Fergburger in Queenstown showed that their receipt dated Sunday last week included the words “Ching Chang,” a racial slur. The Chinese Consulate-General in Christchurch in a statement on Thursday said it had received and accepted an apology from the restaurant over the incident. The comment triggered an online furor among Taiwanese who saw it as an insult to the
RSS