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DPP blasts mega media merger deal

Taipei Times

The National Communications Commission’s (NCC) conditional approval of a massive media merger on Wednesday marked the darkest day in the history of media freedom in the country and continued political interference in the media, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday.

The party “strongly opposed” the commission’s approval of Want Want China Times Group’s (旺旺中時集團) NT$76 billion (US$2.52 billion) acquisition of cable television service provider China Network Systems (CNS, 中嘉網路), which would create an intermedia monopoly, DPP spokesperson Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) said.

Chen Shui-bian backers urge immediate release

Taipei Times

Supporters of imprisoned former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday submitted a petition to the Legislative Yuan calling for the physically and emotionally exhausted Chen to be immediately released from Taipei Prison, where he is serving a 17-and-a-half-year term on corruption charges.

“It doesn’t take a physician to understand that Chen is unhealthy if you’re able to meet him face-to-face,” Taipei Veterans General Hospital physician Kuo Cheng-deng (郭正典), who is part of a six-member task force comprised of physicians and rights advocates monitoring Chen’s health, told a press conference held outside the legislature.

TSU see red as ECFA referendum rejected

Taipei Times

Taiwan Solidarity Union members hold signs at a protest outside the Executive Yuan in Taipei yesterday, demanding that the Referendum Review Committee respect a verdict by the Supreme Administrative Court and put the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) to a referendum.
Photo: CNA

The Executive Yuan’s Referendum Review Committee yesterday again turned down a referendum proposal by the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) on the cross-strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), despite a ruling by the Supreme Administrative Court last month that said the committee must review the application.

“With a nine-to-three vote, the committee has decided to reject the TSU’s proposed referendum on whether the government should sign the ECFA with China based on two major reasons,” committee chairman Chao Yung-mau (趙永茂) said after he walked out of a four-hour meeting.

Mystery over ROC flag’s disappearance in London

Taipei Times

The national flag of the Republic of China (ROC) that was hung along with flags of other countries between two buildings on a street near Piccadilly Circus in central London was removed four days later, an incident which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Taipei has pledged to look into.

The appearance of the ROC flag delighted Taiwanese students studying in London, with photographs of the flag flying in the air uploaded to the Facebook page of the Taiwanese Student Association in the UK.

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