TELEVISION
NCC to mediate dispute
The National Communications Commission (NCC) on Monday said that it would mediate a dispute over copyright fees between cable TV provider Homeplus Digital Co and Yong Xin Multimedia Co, the Taiwanese agent for several well-known foreign channels. Yong Xin has notified Homeplus of its plan to cancel 12 channels, including HBO, Animax, Cinemax, CNN and Cartoon Network, on Friday next week, after negotiations on copyright fees with the cable TV operator hit a deadlock. The commission has received a request for mediation from Homeplus and would arrange a meeting as soon as possible between the two parties with the NCC also present, an agency official said. During the mediation period, signal transmission cannot be cut off, the official said. According to past practice, the two companies can continue negotiating if the mediation attempt fails, the official said. If negotiations ultimately fail, Yong Xin might have to remove the 12 channels and Homeplus would need to apply to adjust its channel lineup, the officials said. Homeplus has about 1.005 million subscribers, accounting for 22.48 percent of the market, NCC data for the first quarter of this year showed.
SOCIETY
Tsai travel report denied
Former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) office on Sunday denied a Chinese-language media report that she is planning to visit Japan. The China Times report was “inaccurate,” Tsai Shu-ching (蔡舒景), a spokesperson for Tsai Ing-wen, said in a statement. “There is currently no such plan as reported by the media outlet,” the statement said. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it has not engaged in negotiations with its Japanese counterpart to arrange a potential trip to Japan by Tsai Ing-wen. Citing unnamed sources, the China Times reported that think tanks in the US, Europe and Japan have extended invitations to Tsai since she left office on May 20. With Japan being nearest to Taiwan of the possible destinations, it is most likely she would visit there first, it said. A Japan visit could be arranged by applying for a visa to visit relatives, following a precedent set by former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), who in 2001 traveled to Japan for the first time since leaving office in 2000, the newspaper reported.
CULTURE
Olympics event planned
The Taiwan Pavilion at the Cultural Olympiad in Paris is to host a “Win Together Glory Night” on Friday, featuring drag queen Nymphia Wind and other performers. The Ministry of Culture in a news release yesterday said that it had organized the event to pay tribute to the Olympic athletes who took the world stage to pursue the ultimate in physical fitness. The Cultural Olympiad is a multidisciplinary artistic and cultural program running alongside the Summer Games. The Taiwan Pavilion at Parc de la Villette is open to the public until Saturday from 5pm to 10pm. Other performers include DJ Elvis Lin (林貓王), TAI Body Theatre, DJ Swallow (妖嬌) and Les Petites Choses Production at the “Win Together Glory Night,” which is on the eve of the Cultural Olympiad’s conclusion. The event’s name was chosen to echo the theme of “Win Together” embodied by the Taiwan Pavilion, the ministry said. The Taiwan Pavilion’s daily program has been so attractive that long lines have formed outside before the venue opens at 5pm daily, it said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by