According to The China Post, Control Yuan President Chien-shien WANG has said that allowing international news programmes produced by mainland China’s CCTV and Hong Kong’s Phoenix Television to be broadcast in Taiwan would be a good thing for the country. It adds that Wang further voiced his support for former Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Pin-kung CHIANG who recently made such a statement during a Koo-Wang Talks 20th anniversary event, stirring up a significant amount of controversy among politicians and members of the media.

During a Koo-Wang Talks anniversary event, Chiang said the government cannot solve the problems of Taiwanese media through legislation, and that the only way is to introduce quality programmes from abroad, such as those from broadcasters that feature more international news, including Hong Kong’s Phoenix Television and mainland China’s CCTV. However, when asked to respond to the controversy that his comments had stirred, Chiang declined to comment, according to local reports, as reported by The China Post.

On a separate report by Taipei Times, SEF Chairman Join-sane LIN commented on the prospect of allowing China and Hong Kong-based channels to operate in Taiwan, “Our channels won’t be restricted to Taiwanese firms only. Any mass media corporations from around the world are welcome in Taiwan.”  The report adds that in the meanwhile, Minister of Culture Ying-tai LUNG said that introducing Phoenix Television and CCTV should depend on whether China was willing to do the same for Taiwanese news channels. In terms of the long-term development of the nation’s TV industry, “everything is negotiable if China is willing to air Taiwanese channels in China. If they refuse such a request, then I’m very sorry, but there just isn’t a basis for continued negotiations on the matter,” Lung added.