Brian Hioeby Brian Hioe
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Photo Credit: Fu Kun-chi/Facebook
THE KMT AND TPP likely plan to use their newly acquired legislative powers going forward to go after political opponents, with an investigative committee set up to investigate the approval of Mirror TV for broadcast. In particular, the pan-Blue camp has long accused the National Communications Commission (NCC) of exercising undue influence in allowing Mirror TV to obtain a broadcast license. Mirror TV is the first television network approved for broadcast in a decade and it is generally seen as more pan-Green in its political leanings.
The process by which Mirror TV obtained a broadcast license was dogged by controversy. In 2022, then-New Power Party chair Chen Jiau-hua publicized a recording of what she claimed were comments leaked by former Mirror TV chair Pei Wei at a shareholders’ meeting in December. In the recording, Pei claims that Premier Su Tseng-chang and President Tsai Ing-wen pressured the NCC to approve Mirror Media’s broadcast license. Chen also criticized that Mirror News officials were found to be paying 100,000 NT to former NCC officials in consultation fees.
Given such allegations of favoritism, the process by which Mirror TV was eventually approved for broadcast saw much contention with the NCC, which likely hoped to clear its name of favoritism. In the course of two years of review, the NCC set 26 regulations for Mirror Media that it had to comply with. The most sensitive of these regulations touched on the separation of the operation of Mirror Media’s newsroom from its management, as well as that Mirror Media must comply by the Anti-Infiltration Act and Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area. Investment from the Chinese government, or from foreign entities seeking to influence Taiwanese politics, would be punished.
Much of the NCC’s concerns returned to whether Mirror News would engage in tabloid-style news reporting similar to Mirror Media’s content. Given such controversy, in March 2022, Mirror News quickly swapped between four different chairs and reshuffled its board in rapid succession. Several NCC members were vocal in their skepticism of Mirror News, with two NCC members publishing an open letter in February 2022 that was skeptical of the network’s ability to maintain adequate funding since the network claimed that 30% of revenue would come from producing content for government agencies, but it was unclear as to who would control the network.
Ahead of the Lai inauguration taking office, the pan-Blue camp continued to criticize the impartiality of the NCC. The TPP and KMT alleged that the nomination process for the NCC chair was interfered with by a media tycoon, based on Chinese-language reports that claimed Taiwan Institute of Economic Research division director would have originally been chair Liu Po-li. The TPP and KMT also called on the appointment for NCC chair to occur under the incoming Lai administration rather than the outgoing Tsai administration.
Photo credit: Fu Kun-chi/Facebook
To this extent, such moves take place at a time in which the pan-Blue camp has faced allegations of carrying out a power grab under the auspices of expanding legislative powers to provide oversight over the presidency, given that the KMT has a narrow majority in the legislature. As such, one has seen calls by the pan-Blue camp to arrogate authority to the legislature, such as reviving the Special Investigation Division and placing this under legislative control rather than the Ministry of Justice. This has also included proposals to make NCC appointments occur on the basis of proportion of representation in the legislature, which would allow the KMT to influence the body.
The KMT and TPP likely hope for show trials then, using the new investigative powers obtained under the legislative power expansion. At the same time, the true matter at contention may be attempted retribution over the loss of CtiTV’s broadcast license in 2020.
CtiTV was taken off air in the aftermath of the 2020 elections, which at one point saw an astonishing 70% of coverage focus on Tsai’s apparent preferred political candidate for the KMT nomination, Han Kuo-yu. The justification for taking CtiTV off air by the NCC largely focused on false reporting, such as alleging that an “auspicious cloud” shaped like a phoenix appeared when three KMT mayors gathered and inflating the crowd count for Han’s inauguration, after which CtiTV pivoted to online streaming.
But CtiTV was one of several outlets owned by foodstuff entrepreneur Tsai Eng-meng’s Want Want Group in the early 2010s. At the time, Tsai made no secret that his acquisition of major media outlets such as the China Times or CtiTV was for the sake of promoting China-friendly views in Taiwan. After Tsai acquired such outlets, they largely stayed away from stories featuring critical views of China. In the years since, outlets owned by Tsai’s Want Want Group have been reported as directly taking orders from China’s Taiwan Affairs Office or accepting Chinese funding by the Financial Times and Apple Daily.
Part of the KMT’s actions, then, were in retribution for that Mirror TV was taken over slots previously belonging to CtiTV, as well as to accuse the DPP of engaging in similar behavior to it when in office. Clearly, this is still a sore point for the pan-Blue camp, which has accused the Tsai administration of being dictatorial over CtiTV’s loss of a broadcast license in the past, and wishes to make this the first major matter that it will employ its new investigative powers regarding.
Still, the KMT also appears to wish to put CtiTV back on air. Moves to amend the Satellite Broadcasting Act by the party are aimed at having this effect, even if this would weaken the regulatory power of the NCC over media in the future.
It is not likely that the KMT will stop with Mirror TV. With a cryptocurrency currency trading platform, ACE Exchange, under investigation for fraud, the KMT has leaned into allegations of links between it and pan-Green-leaning SET. Similarly, the KMT has called for an investigation into the matter. More generally, the KMT may see itself as in a position to target media outlets that it views as pan-Green leaning, and it will use its current position in the legislature to do so. It is to be seen if Mirror TV is the start of a number of public trials pushed for by the KMT, then.