CTi News () is a Taiwanese 24-hour online news outlet and, until December 2020,

cable Cable may refer to: Mechanical * Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof * Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...

television channel, operated by

Chung T'ien Television Chung T'ien Television (CTi TV; ), is a nationwide cable TV network based in Taiwan. It belongs to Want Want China Times group, which also owns China Television (CTV). History Founded in 1994, CTi TV was originally called the Chinese Television ...

. CTi News was known for its support of

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...

politician

Han Kuo-yu Daniel Han Kuo-yu (; born 17 June 1957) is a Taiwanese politician. He was a member of the Legislative Yuan from 1993 to 2002, representing a portion of Taipei County for three terms. He later became general manager of Taipei Agricultural Produc ...

, who attracted a huge wave of supporters and led the opposition party to a sweeping victory in the

2018 Taiwanese local elections Local elections were held on 24 November 2018 in Taiwan, to elect county magistrates (city mayors), county (city) councilors, township mayors, township councilors and chiefs of village (borough) in 6 municipalities and 16 counties (cities). Elec ...

when he was elected mayor of Kaohsiung. It is alleged to be a " China-friendly" or "pro-Beijing" media outlet due to its constant referral to Taiwan as the Republic of China.

Closure on cable television

CTi News's application to renew its broadcast license was rejected by Taiwan's broadcast regulator, the

National Communications Commission The National Communications Commission (NCC; ) is an independent statutory agency of Executive Yuan of the Republic of China (Taiwan) responsible for regulating the development of the telecommunication and broadcasting industries, promoting compe ...

(NCC), on 18 November 2020. The NCC's decision cited repeated violations of rules regarding accuracy in reporting. It is the first television news channel to have its license terminated in this way since the NCC was created in 2006. There is dispute over whether the NCC's non-renewal of CTi News's broadcast license represents a violation of freedom of the press. Reporters Without Borders issued a press release stating that while the licence cancellation's effect on CTi News staff was unfortunate, the action did not represent infringement of press freedom. On the other hand, CTi News said that press freedom in Taiwan had died and the Kuomintang party denounced the decision as an attack on press freedom which sent out a chilling effect. Kuomintang had accused the ruling Democratic Progressive Party of seeking to close the news channel, saying that the renewal consideration process was scripted by

Tsai Ing-wen Tsai Ing-wen (; born 31 August 1956) is a Taiwanese politician serving as president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) since 2016. A member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Tsai is the first female president of Taiwan. She served as ...

's government. Referring to a classified document from the Presidential office leaked out in May 2020, which described two newly appointed members of the "supposedly independent" regulator as siding with the ruling party and able to cooperate in dealing with CTi News, Kuomintang pointed out the fact that a renewal application hearing, the first of its kind in Taiwan, was hosted by these two members in October 2020, just as written in the document. On 11 December, Kuomintang Chairperson

Chiang Chi-chen Johnny Chiang Chi-chen (; born 2 March 1972) is a Taiwanese politician. He was the penultimate Director-General of the Government Information Office from 2010 to 2011, a post he resigned to become a member of the Legislative Yuan in which he ha ...

and former President

Ma Ying-jeou Ma Ying-jeou ( zh, 馬英九, born 13 July 1950) is a Hong Kong-born Taiwanese politician who served as president of the Republic of China from 2008 to 2016. Previously, he served as justice minister from 1993 to 1996 and mayor of Taipei fro ...

dressed in mourning clothes and called for international attention to the deteriorating press freedom in Taiwan at an international news conference. Ma commented that President Tsai's actions went against her pledge to protect freedom of speech, and questioned that the statement made by Reporters Without Borders "does not resemble commentary from professional media personnel". CTi News was forced to end its broadcasts on Taiwan's cable television channel 52 when its broadcast license expired at 00:00 on 12 December 2020. It continues to broadcast on its YouTube channel and its own app, while its sister channels

CTi International CTi International () is a Taiwanese pay television channel operated by Chung T'ien Television directed towards the Chinese diaspora abroad. It is available in Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand and North America North America is ...

(abroad only),

CTi Entertainment CTi Entertainment () is a satellite cable channel operated by Chung T'ien Television in Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northweste ...

and

CTi Variety CTi Variety () is a satellite cable channel operated by Chung T'ien Television in Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern P ...

also continue to broadcast on cable and satellite. Four months later on 19 April 2021, CTS News and Info Channel (owned by the state-owned

Taiwan Broadcasting System Taiwan Broadcasting System (TBS; ), founded 1 July 2006, is a public broadcasting group that operates 8 television channels in Taiwan. It also owns 2 (CTS and PTS) of the five major Taiwan television networks (the other are TTV, CTV and FTV). ...

), CTi News' long time rival took over Taiwan's cable channel 52 after NCC approved CTS News and Info Channel's transfer from cable channel 130 to cable channel 52.

References

External links

CTi News official website
* {{Television in the Republic of China 24-hour television news channels in Taiwan Television channels and stations established in 1994 1994 establishments in Taiwan Television channels and stations disestablished in 2020 Television news in Taiwan