Maddog (GREAT to have you back, man) blogs on how TVBS is the Black Hand of Beijing in Taiwan.Duh! How could anyone not know this about TVBS? If it looks like a Beijing duck, walks like a Beijing duck, and quacks like a Beijing duck..., you might just ask yourself "WTF?!"
My wife asked me Thursday night if I knew who the chairman of TVBS was. "Uhhhh, a Chinese official?," I guessed -- off the top of my head. The answer, she told me, was Liang Naipeng, the former chairman of the Hong Kong Broadcasting Authority. Hong Kong, you must surely remember, reverted to Chinese rule back in 1997; therefore, making a distinction between Hong Kong and China in this matter is absolute nonsense.
I've blogged on this problem before. And look who the KMT supports.....it's pretty obvious where they are getting their marching orders from.
UPDATE: Don't miss the comments below! Lots of perspectives.
[Taiwan] [China]
18 comments:
This is the most absurd logic. Do these HK capitalists have any choice?
Yeah, neo-cons in US said Li Kangshing was a CCP pawn as well, when his company was bidding for Panama Container Port, and then for a telecom company Global Crossing.
This is clearly DPP's revenge on the scandal exposure. Remember TVBS has been very critical of KMT. If KMT is in power, expect TVBS change the target.
What a democratic gevernment needs is a free media to check and balance. Judging by the results alone, TVBS did an excellent job.
I thought Taiwan has graduated in studying democracy, but I was VERY WRONG.
Sun Bin,
I don't think Leung Nai-pang (I need to correct the spelling in my post) is merely a "capitalist," as you call him. I suspect he is a political appointee of Tung Chee-hwa.
What the neocons in the US say has no effect on what I believe (they're some of the biggest fucking liars in history); nor does what TVBS says -- even if they occasionally speak a truth that needs to be spoken.
The "DPP's revenge on the scandal exposure" has been to kick Chen Che-nan out of the party.
A democratic government does indeed need a free media to check and balance, but it doesn't need one that speaks the truth 20% of the time and makes shit up for the remainder.
I agree totally with your last paragraph. Taiwan has NOT "graduated" in studying democracy. However, I disagree with what I see as your implication in that paragraph: that the DPP shutting down a station for operating illegally isn't "democratic." Feh!
Freedom of the press doesn't mean, for example, that Diane Lee can say she has proof -- PROOF! -- that Twu Shiing-jer licked somebody's ear, and report it without investigating. It doesn't mean that you can report anything Sisy Chen says about an unnamed "nurse" who called her without separate verification of the facts behind her accusation. It doesn't mean Chiu Yi can say that "a relative of Chen Shui-bian" went to Korea with Chen Che-nan and earned black money. It doesn't mean you can say (without evidence) that a whole bunch of people committed suicide this week "because the Chen administration wants to cancel the 18% interest rate for retired civil servants."
And it certainly doesn't mean that people can say Chen Shui-bian shot himself to win the presidential election. THAT's the "most absurd logic."
Making shit up and calling it "news" -- that's not democracy, it's a motherfucking conspiracy!
Well, the HK capitalists may not have a choice, but that's really irrelevant. Who controls TVBS? Beijing.
Simple as that.
I don't know what criticism of the KMT has to do with it. Beijing has made it pretty clear that the KMT will be favored only so long as it serves the interests of Beijing. After the Anschluss it will be dispensed with. I think a lot of KMTers are going to be very surprised at how little power they will really have.
Hi Michael, Just wanna say I totally agree with what you and maddog said about TVBS. I am a Taiwanese living in Singapore and somehow those big shot hosts such as Sisy Chen, Li Ao, Li Tao are overrated here. Just because they are anti-DPP hence they can represent people's view and claim to be neutral and independent?? I have to say media like those are giving me a hard time when I want to explain the true situations in Taiwan to foreigners - it's hard for them to believe Taiwan is not like a living hell as what it is described on TV!
1. 20% truth and 80% shit? the scandals were fake? come on, be real
2. TVBS controlled by CCP? what a logic jump. TVBS is owned by TVB HK, which is controlled by Sir Run Run Shaw. The owner of Shaw Bro Movie, and TVB in HK.
Leung Nai Pang was employed by Shaw.
You can call them pro-blue (as I said, the blue hated them in the past, so this is not true), but you have a great leap of faith to call them CCP minions.
This is like calling Washington Post a democrat minion, when they exposed watergate.
tim
1. anyone can see the correlation/coincidence in timing. don't kid yourself that they are independent events
2. You can sue Chiu Yi, or even Li Tao for libel. If they lied. I am sure Taiwan's law still allows that. OTOH, the TV station cannot be held responsible for what the guest say.
It was DPP's own fault that they boycotted TVBS, hencing giving up their opportunity to speak. They only have themselves to blame, if you think the report was one-sided.
3. There are many pro-green media. according to your logic, they should also be shut down, because they are not 'neutral' and many did speak "20%" only truth.
This is like shutting down washington post when watergate was exposed. except this gate is smaller than watergate, which makes the reaction even more outrageous.
listen to what DPP member Lin chu shui has to say. There are some rational minded within DPP.
Reacting on TVBS is exactly what CCP wanted to see. I can guarantee the collapse of the DPP government and failure in election if they continue to persecute TVBS.
This is what DPP had been fighting for 20-30 years ago. Now they become KMT themselves. well, I guess this is your democracy, do whatever you want to do.
but it would be a setback for those in HK and the mainland who looked to Taiwan's experiences.
Sun Bin,
You are so full of it! It's hard to believe that you can't even distinguish between "neutral" and "honest."
I heard via the TV in the next room what Annette Lu and Lin Cho-shui said a while ago about "timing," and I think they're both completely full of it on this point. What I meant when I wrote in my latest post that "timing is everything" is that the DPP gov't should have taken TVBS to task looooooooong ago. Anytime they got around to it, it would have been called political. In fact, that's what happened in the cases of The Journalist and their Annette Lu "Heh heh heh!" article, Chiu Yi riding atop a truck and crashing into the gate of the Kaohsiung District Prosecutor's Office, etc. In each of those cases, the ones who were charged cried "unfair"!
All I ask for is "rule of law" -- not political persecution -- but I suppose that doesn't matter to you, Sun Bin.
(BTW, I believe TVBS has admitted that their funds come from HK but denied that HK = China. Can you, Sun Bin, deny that HK is part of China? Even if HK weren't part of China, the funding would still be illegal.)
Let me add a few more things for Sun Bin:
1) You didn't respond to any of the specific false allegations I brought up -- five of them, off the top of my head -- that were echoed by all the pan-blue media.
2) If a TV station repeatedly invites guests who lie or make groundless accusations, I think the stations should be held responsible for the lies of their guests.
3) If the host repeatedly lies or makes groundless accusations (e.g., Li Tao, his wife Li Yan-chiu (sp?), Jaw Shaw-kong, Sisy Chen), they should be held legally responsible.
4) The mendacious pan-blues used to hate the CCP (in fact, now that you mention it, the KMT and the PFP seem to have an on-again/off-again kind of relationship), but now they seem to be best buddies -- if only because "the enemy (CCP/pan-blues) of their enemy (Chen Shui-bian) is their 'friend.'" Haha!
5) Sun Bin, you "come on" and "be real."
Oh, and since you coincidentally brought up the Washington Post, you might want to go read this about Bob Woodward.
(If Sun Bin writes again within the hour, I'll assume he didn't bother to follow any of those links -- some of which link to dozens of other pages in order to back my shit up. Me? Right now I need some sleep.)
Great work, Maddog!
1. freedom of speech means, you can say anything you want, but you would be sued for libel is you lie maliciously. Go to sue them and make them pay. Don't go to seal the media.
Is this concept so difficult for an American to understand?
2. HK=China, yes, you can say Taiwan=China as well. 15%-50% in Tiawn may agree with you.
Your mistake is not about HK=China. You have accused TVBS as controlled by CCP to subvert Taiwan. That is libel.
How difficult does it take one to understand China does not equal CCP?
3. yes, as lin cho-shui said, timing is a big problem. if you did this before the scandal, you could get technical and claim you were treating them as independent events. now no one believes you.
4. as i read, the requirement is "direct ownership", and the 53% JV partner is registered in Taipei. GIO reviewed and said nothing all these time. (timing?) But let lawyers deal with the legal issues.
5. which five false allegation? the photo?
I am happy to see TVBS blocked by DPP. that would certainly be fun to watch.
As a victim of Taiwanese media and as a scholar of media in general, I'd like to add my two cents:
McLuhan said many times that the content of any media is always another media. In the case of Taiwanese television news, the subsumed media is simply gossip.
Nick Pazderic
Quick reply to Sun Bin's latest before I have to go out...
He says:
1. freedom of speech means, you can say anything you want...
Would ad hominen attacks against Sun Bin be okay? I would think not, so I'm attacking your logic.
He says:
2. HK=China, yes, you can say Taiwan=China as well.
I could also say that the earth is flat or the moon is made of green cheese. Those are non-libelous lies, but the kind that BS-TV promulgates are much more dangerous. They also (more often than not) deny having ever said such things when the charges turn out to be false. Mendacity = BS; hence BS-TV.
He says:
3. ...if you did this before the scandal, you could get technical and claim you were treating them as independent events...
So it is you who are making judgments based on the timing and not on the facts...
BTW, besides not being able to tell the difference between "neutral" and "honest," you can't seem to distinguish me from the DPP.
He says:
4. ...the 53% JV partner is registered in Taipei...
I guess you didn't read the part of the news about where their money -- a figure much higher than the net worth of the entire company -- came from. I believe it's in one of the Liberty Times links I put at the bottom of my "TVBS = BS-TV" post.
He says:
5. which five false allegation? ...
To repeat from my first comment to this post (Maddog says, numbering them for you this time):
- - -
Freedom of the press doesn't mean, for example, that [1] Diane Lee can say she has proof -- PROOF! -- that Twu Shiing-jer licked somebody's ear, and report it without investigating. It doesn't mean that [2] you can report anything Sisy Chen says about an unnamed "nurse" who called her without separate verification of the facts behind her accusation. It doesn't mean [3] Chiu Yi can say that "a relative of Chen Shui-bian" went to Korea with Chen Che-nan and earned black money. It doesn't mean you can say (without evidence) that [4] a whole bunch of people committed suicide this week "because the Chen administration wants to cancel the 18% interest rate for retired civil servants."
And it certainly doesn't mean that [5] people can say Chen Shui-bian shot himself to win the presidential election. THAT's the "most absurd logic."
- - -
There are the 5 allegations.
You, Sun Bin, have ignored the obvious and mutilated the truth; therefore, you should be "shunned."
Now go read some of those links I included in my last comment.
Here is some information on Leung and HK Broadcast Authority's job specification.
by ESWN
1. your 5 cases. I already answered you. Sue them all for libel, ask for compensation and throw these people into jail -- provided the judge and jury agree with you. you can also sue TVBS if you want.
but these cases are irrelavant to the license, at least until the verdict is out.
2. 53% direct investment.
read the law in the link below (and analysis link).
if you don't understand what 'direct' investment is, ask a lawyer friend.
FYI, the law is written in extreme clarity. For Cable TV it requires effective ownership, i.e. your definition, TVBS would not be allowed to operate CATV.
But for satellite TV, the regulation only requires "direct ownership" less than 50%. i.e. indirect ownership can be 100%.
this and ROC Sat boradcast law
argue with them, don't argue with me. if you are still in doubt, wait a few days and read the newspaper.
that's it for me. have a nice day.
there are a lot more importsant things in life than getting obsessed with a TV station you do not like.
I do not like CCTV, i just switch to another channel, or turn off my TV.
ad hominen attack on me? go ahead. i don't mind.
if you have the credibility, people will listen to you. since you are credible, you are speaking the truth. what can i complain?
if you had made many false allegation, no one believes you. so why would I mind?
ok.....no more comment from me now.
OK, Sun Bin, I give: What determines one's credibility? The truth has no place in this definition? Strange. No wonder authoritarian regimes and scrolls on deception appeal to you. I hope someone can save Taiwan from your ideas.
oops. sorry for the unintended religious imagery. i hope people in taiwan can save themselves-- a set of which i belong.
oh what crap!
sorry i read this so called "interesting" comments and even this blog.
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