WaPo says it all. Jimmy Lai sells his Taiwan media organs to Jeffrey Koo, Jr. of the powerful Koo family, and Wang Yen-wen of the Formosa group (according to WantWant, the pro-China rag run by the owner of another powerful conglomerate), both from clans that have extensive business interests in China....
“The expected sale underscores growing Chinese influence on the island of 23 million people, especially in the free-wheeling media, where there is increasing soft-peddling of issues concerning China… The development comes on the heels of pro-China Taiwanese newspaper publisher Tsai Eng-meng’s attempts to complete a $2.4 billion deal for a cable TV network system. Tsai’s outspokenly pro-Beijing China Times newspaper balks at almost all direct criticism of the mainland.”Sold include Apple Daily, Sharp Daily, Next Magazine and Next TV..... Next Media has completely left Taiwan. Selling price: US$600 million. The WantWant report adds that a Formosa Plastics board member said he had not heard of such a deal and does not believe the reports are true. WantWant also says that private equity funds from Singapore are involved.
UPDATED: A friend reminds that Apple Daily has consistently published critical environmental pieces, including some on Formosa Plastics' nightmare plant down in Mailiao. Big business control of the media is about more than just curbing critical commentary on China.
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15 comments:
Is the long island in the center-right Cijin Island?
I think you are correct.
So is Liberty Times now the only newspaper without a pro-Bejing slant?
That WaPo article says 1 million Taiwanese live in China, not to mention that 40 percent of Taiwan's trade is with China. When 5 percent of your population lives in another place, maybe you should reconsider whether that place really is your enemy. I don't consider these wealthy "pro-China" businessmen sellouts, they have more integrity than a lot of Taiwanese in not being hypocritical about disliking the country which they're so dependent on.
CP
"Not disliking" is one thing; "slavishly serving" is another. Nothing hypocritical about disliking a country that keeps threatening to maim and murder you and your family in order to annex your land, and to snuff out your own way of governance. Taiwanese want to make money off China, same as they do with all other countries. The problem isn't their position, but China's. If China didn't threaten Taiwan, no one would care.
Michael
In any case, the issue isn't hypocrisy, but how the media is run, and by who.
Thank you for responding, Michael. Yet it doesn't contradict my main point. If a country is "threatening to maim and murder you and your family in order to annex your land, and to snuff out your own way of governance", then why is it one million Taiwanese can easily settle there. If you add up the Taiwanese who don't live, but do business or study there, the figure is even higher.
Fittingly I just came across this about your DPP from Asia Times:
While on the island, DPP city councilors, mayors and petty chiefs of districts and boroughs might argue vociferously against cross-strait rapprochement, when on the mainland, they are said to look after their families' lucrative businesses, invest in the stock markets and establish a firm foothold in the booming property market.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/NJ11Ad01.html
Your point about how the media is run and by whom is taken. Although, I might add, the Taiwan media is far from a sterling example of professional journalism.
CP
, then why is it one million Taiwanese can easily settle there.
Boy, I dunno, that's a hard one. I just can't figure it out.
Michael
Michael, let me rephrase that to make it clearer:
If a country really is "threatening to maim and murder you and your family in order to annex your land, and to snuff out your own way of governance", then why would one million of you - Taiwanese- live there? If you add up the Taiwanese who don't live, but do business or study there, the figure is even higher.
I think you get my point.
CP
then why would one million of you - Taiwanese- live there?
You mean... why would a million Taiwanese temporarily relocate there? You honestly think you're asking a devastating rhetorical question?
ROFL
Michael, that all you can say?
It's not a devastating rhetorical question by any means, but your response makes it so.
Instead of going around in circles, I'll state my original aim is not trading barbs with you, but pointing out the striking irony that many Taiwanese live, when over 5 percent of their population is living, benefiting, and even exploiting the very purported "enemy."
CP
nstead of going around in circles, I'll state my original aim is not trading barbs with you
Oh, I thought after the third repetition of your silly question, that was your goal.
Taiwanese thrive in China now for the same motives as Japanese entrepreneurs thrived in pre-wwll China under threats from Chinese narionalists.
There might be as much Taiwan-friendly Chinese now as there were Japan-friendly Chinese until KMT hunted those down as "hanjian" to better assert its clamp on a territory it represented but did not really control.
Never, I rpeat, NEVER forget that Taiwanese business acumen were brought about and thrived first and foremost within the Greater Asia Coprosperity Sphere.
Obvious: everyone wants to make money in China. Why? Because china has suffocated Taiwan to the point where it can't call itself a country, can't hold up its own flag at the Olympics, cant have diplomatic ties with other countries, can't develop any economic deals without china threatening other countries that they may jeapordize relations with China.
Anonymous- agree with your obvious and not the why. There's nothing to prevent Taiwanese businesses from going to other countries to invest. It's just China is such a great prize for them that they can't stay away.
The reason I keep coming back to post here is that I'm tired of the constant poor-me victim attitude Taiwanese have. Take the recent worries about media consolidation for instance; what was so great about it in the first place? when Next Media animations and Apple Daily are your best media outlets, that suggests something seriously wrong.
CP
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