Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) lawmakers yesterday vowed to work together to oppose the nominees for new National Communications Commission (NCC) members after a media tycoon was said to have intervened in the nominating process.
Chinese-language media reported that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government originally tapped Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER) division director Liu Po-li (劉柏立) to chair the nation’s broadcast media and telecoms regulator. The nomination was allegedly canceled because of the intervention of a Taiwanese media tycoon, although the media reports did not identify who that person was.
“Despite extensive media coverage on the intervention from the media tycoon, the Presidential Office, Executive Yuan and the DPP have yet to retort, deny or comment on any of the allegations,” KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said. “Is the DPP tacitly confirming these allegations, and letting speculations run wild in the news media while testing the public reaction and controlling the narrative on this matter?”
Photo: Yang Mien-chieh, Taipei Times
Hung said the new NCC commissioners should be nominated by premier-designate Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) after he takes office on May 20, rather than by Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁), with the nominees being approved by the Legislative Yuan later.
Liu was said to replace NCC Chairman Chen Yaw-shyang (陳耀祥), whose term expires in July.
Meanwhile, National Taiwan Normal University Graduate Institute of Mass Communication professor Chen Ping-hung (陳炳宏), Shih Hsin University communications management assistant professor Lo Huei-wen (羅慧雯) and NCC Department of Platform and Business director Chan I-Lien (詹懿廉) were reported to be nominated to replace three outgoing NCC commissioners: NCC Vice Chairman Wong Po-tsung (翁柏宗), and NCC commissioners Lin Li-yun (林麗雲) and Wang Wei-ching (王維菁), whose terms also expire in July.
The nominees are known for their expertise in telecommunications and media studies, rather than their political footprint.
KMT caucus deputy secretary Wang Hong-wei (王鴻薇) said the media tycoon was said to have influenced the nominations of new NCC commissioners through former DPP legislator Pan Meng-an (潘孟安), who has been designated the new Presidential Office secretary-general.
Canceling Liu’s nomination would be the biggest scandal in the communications sector, Wang said.
“Now everybody knows that the NCC is not only controlled by the DPP, but is also controlled by a powerful media group. The new government should explain itself once it takes office,” Wang said.
TPP Legislator Lin Kuo-cheng (林國成) said his caucus would work with the KMT caucus in reviewing the nominations of new NCC commissioners.
“The DPP still thinks that it can do whatever it wants when it comes to the nominations of new NCC commissioners. As an opposition party, we will work with the KMT for the sake of the truth and the people,” he said.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about