More violations of political neutrality? =UPDATED=

Word coming down the grapevine is that NEXT media's cable TV channel launch will be delayed. Since Next broke the story of the security agencies apparently collecting information on DPP candidate Tsai for use by the Ma campaign, the National Communications Commission has begun throwing up obstacles to completion of the launch of the new station, say Next insiders.[UPDATE: I've heard that the NCC points out that the license was granted in the summer so any problems that Next is encountering are between Next and its cable operators.]

The Miaoli county prosecutors office made a move that sure looks like it was aimed at impairing a DPP legislative candidate's election prospects: it indicted him for defamation....

The Miaoli District Prosecutors’ Office’s decision on Thursday to indict political commentator Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) and Ho Po-wen (何博文), a DPP legislative candidate, on charges of public defamation just days before the elections was unacceptable, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) spokesperson Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) said yesterday.

Just days before the election. The defamation case dates from June of 2010, the two men in question had already issued public apologies, and suddenly, 18 months later, right before the election, the prosecutors issue an indictment for defamation.

This case highlights how criminalizing mere public insult has an underlying authoritarian application....
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Daily Links:

• Andrew Jacobs with an NYTimes video on the piggies.
• China calls US "troublemaker." Just like they did with the Chen Administration.
• Little Trouble in Big China as Taiwanese expression of contempt for China (too often not held in check by Taiwanese) leads to a confrontation over China's claim to Taiwan.
• Taiwan reports its first case of H5N2 avian flu, in Changhua.
• My Kafkaesque Life on the Best Taiwan blog contest.

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