The Executive Yuan on Tuesday assigned Wong Po-tsung (翁柏宗) to serve as acting chairman of the National Communications Commission (NCC) after the Legislative Yuan last month approved amendments to the National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家傳訊傳播委員會組織法) that would remove clauses allowing a chairperson to extend their term.
Wong’s term as NCC vice chairman ended yesterday, as did the terms of Chen Yaw-shyang (陳耀祥) as chairman, and Lin Li-yun (林麗雲) and Wang Wei-ching (王維菁) as commissioners.
Executive Yuan spokesman Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) yesterday said that as half of the NCC committee concluded their terms simultaneously, the Executive Yuan appointed Wong as acting chairman according to articles 4 and 5 of the act.
Photo: Tsai Si-pei, Taipei Times
Wong is taking over “in full accordance with the law” and the Executive Yuan was not “appointing” him to the position, Chen said.
Lin and Wang called for the reviews of NCC committee members to be expedited, citing concerns that the remaining members lack a professional aptitude and could err in their review of media-related incidents.
The remaining members are professionals in telecommunications, law and economics, but there are no broadcasting media experts among them, they said.
Competition between media firms has led to news channels relying on government contracts, a situation that has further polarized news channels on either side of the political spectrum and undermined the credibility of the fourth estate, they said.
Mainstream media are beginning to lose out against Internet sources, they added.
The NCC is obligated to oversee the media, and should institute measures to assess and control competition among media groups, Lin and Wang said.
Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said that the spirit of the law, despite the amendments not having been promulgated, was clearly to stop NCC committee members from repeatedly having their appointments extended.
The Executive Yuan’s argument that the amendments have not yet taken effect are unacceptable, Huang said.
Wong’s appointment as acting chairman was questionable, Huang added, citing Wong’s involvement in allegedly leaking classified secrets when reviewing TV channel license applications.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus member Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) said that the Executive Yuan’s actions did not “disrespect” the legislature, as they observed proper legal procedure.
DPP Legislator Lai Jui-lung (賴瑞隆) said the legislature should expedite review of the NCC committee member nominees so that it could operate at full strength as soon as possible.
Lai added that hopefully there would be an extraordinary meeting this month to achieve that goal.
Snow fell in the mountainous areas of northern, central and eastern Taiwan in the early hours of yesterday, as cold air currents moved south. In the northern municipality of Taoyuan, snow started falling at about 6am in Fusing District (復興), district head Su Tso-hsi (蘇佐璽) said. By 10am, Lalashan National Forest Recreation Area, as well as Hualing (華陵), Sanguang (三光) and Gaoyi (高義) boroughs had seen snowfall, Su said. In central Taiwan, Shei-Pa National Park in Miaoli County and Hehuanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Nantou County saw snowfall of 5cm and 6cm respectively, by 10am, staff at the parks said. It began snowing
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
A Vietnamese migrant worker on Thursday won the NT$12 million (US$383,590) jackpot on a scratch-off lottery ticket she bought from a lottery shop in Changhua County’s Puyan Township (埔鹽), Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The lottery winner, who is in her 30s and married, said she would continue to work in Taiwan and send her winnings to her family in Vietnam to improve their life. More Taiwanese and migrant workers have flocked to the lottery shop on Sec 2 of Jhangshuei Road (彰水路) to share in the luck. The shop owner, surnamed Chen (陳), said that his shop has been open for just
HOLIDAY EXERCISE: National forest recreation areas from north to south offer travelers a wide choice of sights to connect with nature and enjoy its benefits Hiking is a good way to improve one’s health, the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency said, as it released a list of national forest recreation areas that travelers can visit during the Lunar New Year holiday. Taking a green shower of phytoncides in the woods could boost one’s immunity system and metabolism, agency Director-General Lin Hwa-ching (林華慶) cited a Japanese study as saying. For people visiting northern Taiwan, Lin recommended the Dongyanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Taoyuan’s Fusing District (復興). Once an important plantation in the north, Dongyanshan (東眼山) has a number of historic monuments, he said. The area is broadly covered by
RSS