Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

KMT, TPP to blame for NCC paralysis

Taipei Times Editorial

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) legislators once again collaborated to vote against the appointments of four new National Communications Commission (NCC) commissioners. This decision has further mired the already dysfunctional agency in uncertainty.

The commission, which regulates online media, broadcast media and telecommunications in the country, has not been able to rule on any case since December last year due to the inability to meet the quorum, which requires a minimum of four NCC members to be present. There are currently only three commissioners.

Some blamed former NCC chairman Chen Yaw-shyang (陳耀祥) for the conundrum. It was Chen who restricted the quorum to 50 percent of the statutory number of members, instead of half of the current number of members.

Taiwanese will not be silenced by fear

Wang Hung-jen 王宏仁

Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋) is being investigated by the Chinese government for the crime of “separatism” and was smeared in a so-called “expose” by state-run China Central Television (CCTV). The Chinese campaign is more than intimidation of an individual; it is part of an ongoing program of psychological warfare against Taiwanese. Although China’s move is a weaponization of the law with state media as cheerleader, its ultimate goal is not a legal outcome, but to create a chilling effect that drives Taiwanese to self-censor.

Despite the barefaced nature of these political threats, there are domestic voices that have responded with mockery and deflection from the crux of the matter. By some perverse logic, opposition legislators have called on President William Lai (賴清德) to “self-reflect” rather than condemn China. If it were not for China’s sustained military threats, information infiltration and diplomatic suppression, Taiwan would have no need for legislation like the Anti-Infiltration Act (反滲透法), which Shen advocated. What needs to be examined is not the government’s defense, but the reality of Chinese interference.

Puma Shen addresses German hearing

Taipei Times

Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋), whom China has listed as “wanted” for promoting Taiwanese independence, on Wednesday addressed a hearing of a German parliamentary committee, speaking about his efforts to combat disinformation.

Shen was one of six experts invited to speak at a hearing of the Bundestag’s Committee on Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid on the topic “Disinformation by Autocratic States Aiming to Undermine Democracy and Threaten Human Rights,” information posted online by the lower house of the German federal parliament showed.

After the hearing, Shen told reporters that he was invited to address the committee in his role as a lawmaker and an expert on combating disinformation.

The CCP’s mask slips again

Taipei Times Editorial

Chinese Consul General in Osaka Xue Jian (薛劍) on Saturday last week shared a news article on social media about Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks on Taiwan, adding that “the dirty neck that sticks itself in must be cut off.” The previous day in the Japanese House of Representatives, Takaichi said that a Chinese attack on Taiwan could constitute “a situation threatening Japan’s survival,” a reference to a legal legal term introduced in 2015 that allows the prime minister to deploy the Japan Self-Defense Forces.

The violent nature of Xue’s comments is notable in that it came from a diplomat, especially one stationed in the country to which he was directing his ire. The Japanese government called it “extremely inappropriate,” while Beijing tried to distance itself by characterizing the post as “personal.” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said that Xue’s comments, and similar remarks from Chinese officials, risked stirring up anti-Japanese sentiment among Chinese, and that it “cannot be treated as an isolated incident or just a personal remark.” US Ambassador to Japan George Glass wrote on X: “The mask slips — again.”

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