Taiwanese Journalists Quit over Parent Company' TV Deal

Tsai Eng-meng, chairman of Want Want China Holdings

(Taipei) – Senior staff of Taiwanese newspaper China Times are quitting amid controversy over the planned take-over of cable TV provider China Network Systems (CNS) by the newspaper's parent company.

Taiwan's largest media deal in recent years has met a chilly reception all round despite being given a conditional green light by regulators. The parent company, Want Want, a snack food giant in the greater China region, initially said that it would not sacrifice shareholder interest in its television subsidiaries CTiTv and China Television despite a ruling requiring it to sever ties with the former and restructure the second as a non-news channel. Want Want has since backed down and the deal is still set to go ahead.
 
Even with the strict conditions being imposed on Want Want, the ruling faced heavy criticism. Academic circles, community groups and public figures organized protests, raising concerns that the purchase of CNS, which holds a 27 percent cable viewer share, would give Want Want excessive monopoly power.
 
During the protests, China Times launched a campaign against merger opponent and Academia Sinica research fellow Huang Kuo-chang. On July 26, it published a full spread report accusing him, without substantive evidence, of paying students to take part in a protest he organized. The report backfired and caused even stronger opposition to Want Want from the newsroom of China Times.
 
In addition, a local college student had his identity revealed by CtiTV news after he reposted a picture on Facebook showing China Times Weekly deputy editor-in-chief Lin Chao-hsin attending the rally. This raised suspicions that Want Want was behind the demonstrations. Lin has threatened to sue the student.