Taiwan: Government  Cracks Down On Underground Radio Stations
18 April 2010


The number of underground radio stations had fallen to 29 after a crackdown directed against illegal medicine, the National Communications Commission said Sunday.

The opposition Democratic Progressive Party has accused the NCC of targeting the broadcasters because many of them were radical opponents of government plans to sign an Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement with China.

Out of hundreds of illegal radio stations, only 29 still broadcast last Friday, reports said. The NCC sent police and prosecutors to tackle six more in Taipei and Chiayi Saturday, impounding their broadcasting equipment, according to media reports.

Premier Wu Den-yih ordered the crackdown after reports of widespread advertising for illegal medicine. The broadcasters posed a threat to public health, he said. The NCC reacted by saying it would use all legal means at its disposal to solve the problem, including closer supervision and collection of evidence.

The opposition said there was a strong suspicion that the government was using the medicine ads as an excuse to crack downs on opinions it didn’t like. Many of the radio stations feature political programmes and talk shows strongly critical of President Ma Ying-jeou’s Kuomintang administration.

The government was trying to limit free speech in the run-up to the eventual signing of ECFA in June and the local elections at the end of this year, lawmakers with the opposition Democratic Progressive Party said.

The NCC responded that the radio stations occupied frequencies even though they were not legally allowed to, so it was entitled to take measures. The NCC denied any political motivation in choosing which stations to tackle.

Proposals now under review by the Legislative Yuan would lead to an opening of more frequencies to prospective broadcasters willing to file a legal application, the NCC said.

Source: Taiwan News website