LOW-QUALITY FARE:Domestically produced TV shows are often inferior to those produced abroad, as they are underfunded and lack talented people, an academic said

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 01, 2015
By: Shelley Shan  /  Staff reporter

An academic yesterday urged the government to take the percentage of locally produced programs a TV channel transmits into consideration when deciding whether to renew broadcast licenses.

“There are still ways to salvage the nation’s TV industry if everyone faces the crisis honestly,” National Chung Cheng University professor Luo Shih-hung (羅世宏) said. “The government should increase funding for locally produced TV programs and limit the broadcast of programs imported from China and other nations. The funding for public broadcasting channels should also be increased.”

Meanwhile, the percentage of a TV network’s locally produced programs, as well as the funding for such programs should be an important gauge in the evaluation of the performance of the network and the decision on whether to renew its broadcasting license.”     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-08-30
By: Ko Lin, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Former Kuomintang vice secretary-general Chang Jung-kung overturned the speculation of a

Lien to leave for Beijing on Sunday. Central News Agency

hidden agenda, stressing that former vice president Lien Chan’s trip to Beijing is primarily to promote political, economic, cultural and social exchanges between both sides of the Straits, reports said Sunday.

Lien drew huge criticisms earlier this week when he accepted Beijing’s invitation to attend the country’s September 3 World War II victory parade. President Ma Ying-jeou even deemed the trip as “inappropriate,” saying it is the stance of the Republic of China government.

When asked by reporters on Sunday if Lien still plans to carry out the visit despite Ma’s objection, Chang replied “What do you think?”

He said the former vice president has always aimed to promote cross-strait dialogue, and that the interaction between officials in Taipei and Beijing is nothing out of the ordinary, including the military parade.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/08/30
By: Lawrence Chiu and S.C. Chang

Beijing, Aug. 30 (CNA) China’s top Taiwan affairs official on Sunday acknowledged the Kuomintang’s (KMT’s) contributions to China’s War of Resistance against Japan during World War II.

Zhang Zhijun （張志軍）, head of the State Council’s Taiwan Affairs Office, told visiting former KMT chairman Lien Chan （連戰）that the KMT took the lead in fighting the Japanese on the front line while the Communist Party of China (CPC) played a leading role “from behind the enemy line” during the 1937-1945 war against Japanese invasion.

“This is our view of that period of the Chinese history,” Zhang was quoted by Chang Jung-kung (張榮恭）, former deputy secretary general of KMT, who is now Lien’s aide.     [FULL  STORY]

FAUSTIAN BARGAIN?Critics said that more Chinese tourists means more crime, with 1,124 Chinese tourists accused of breaking the law in the first of half of this year

Taipei Times
Date:  Aug 31, 2015
By: Chung Li-hua  /  Staff reporter

With the Executive Yuan poised to raise the cap on the number of Chinese tourists traveling to Taiwan via the Free Independent Travel (FIT) program, an opposition lawmaker likened the move to a deal with the devil, saying that violations of the law by Chinese tourists are on the rise, with last year’s total almost double that of 2013.

The National Development Council proposed “economy-boosting measures” earlier this month, including raising the cap on the number of Chinese tourists traveling to Taiwan via the FIT program from 4,000 to 5,000 per day and raising the limit for those traveling via the “small three links” through Kinmen and Matsu from 500 to 1,000 per day.

There is no change planned to the daily number allowed for Chinese traveling as members of tour groups.     [FULL  STORY]