Subjects: Taiwan Has Continued to Outlaw Illegal Transmissions But Has Not Discovered Any Suspicious Source; Taiwan Calls on the Mainland Authorities to Seek Assistance through Existing Channels, ARATS and SEF; Seven Private Commercial Radio Stations in Taiwan Seriously Affected by Mainland Interferences; the Mainland Side Has Not Effectively Handled This Situation; Declaration of Destination Required for People Traveling to the Mainland Area; Mainland Authorities Understand the Signals of Taiwan’s Commercial Broadcasting Stations Have Been Hijacked by the Mainland Side But Have Done Nothing to Ameliorate the Situation

MAC Vice Chairman Chen Ming-tong
at the September 27, 2002 Press Conference

A. His Report

Taiwan Has Continued to Outlaw Illegal Transmissions But Has Not Discovered Any Suspicious Source

With regard to the statement of the Mainland’s Taiwan Affairs Office in its press conference that the SINOSAT satellite covering the Mainland area has been receiving interferences from Taipei, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) expressed that it is the duty and responsibility of any Government to maintain the proper order of the transmission of radio waves. Although Taiwan is not a member of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), it has always abided by the regulations of the ITU in maintaining the proper transmission of radio waves and in eliminating illegal use. With regard to the SINOSAT’s receiving interferences, the Taiwan side has ceaselessly exerted efforts, human and material, to outlaw any illegal interference on the proper transmission of radio waves. However, there has not been any suspicious transmission source found out.

Taiwan Calls on the Mainland Authorities to Seek Assistance through Existing Channels, ARATS and SEF

Mainland authorities have expressed that it has notified the Taiwan side through civilian groups about the matter on the interferences received by its satellite’s radio waves. The MAC points out that it has not been notified by any agency or any civilian organization about this matter. If the Mainland authorities had placed importance on this matter, they should have sought our assistance through the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) and the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS). Moreover, the SEF fax machine has always been turned on. However, it was not a really wise idea for the Mainland authorities to skip this channel. We urge the Mainland authorities to provide correct information in a similar responsible manner, and transmit the information through the existing channels to avoid any misunderstanding and incorrect judgment.

Seven Private Commercial Radio Stations in Taiwan Seriously Affected by Mainland Interferences; the Mainland Side Has Not Effectively Handled This Situation

The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) expressed that both sides of the Strait need to combine efforts in eliminating the illegal use of radio waves. However, since last year, seven private commercial radio stations in Taiwan have been seriously affected by interference and their radio signals have been hijacked by the Mainland’s state-run radio stations. After several attempts of Taiwan’s radio station managers to communicate with agencies concerned in the Mainland, the Mainland authorities have not effectively handled the situation until now. The interferences and the hijacking of signals have not been ameliorated. We hereby strongly urge the Mainland authorities to abide by the related regulations stipulated by the ITU, and actively manage the broadcasting channels and the transmission of radio waves within its jurisdiction. They should not harm the legal rights of Taiwan’s commercial radio stations and the listening rights of the general public.

B. Questions and Answers

Declaration of Destination Required for People Traveling to the Mainland Area

Q: The Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of the Interior, fined a Keelung City resident for not reporting his travel to the Mainland. What procedures do people from the Taiwan area have to go through before being allowed to travel to the Mainland area?

A:
▓ The consensus between the MAC and the Legislative Yuan in the last legislative session was to complete the revision of the “Statute Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the People of the Mainland Area” by November 30. Right now, the draft revision has been submitted to the Executive Yuan for approval and to the Legislative Yuan for review.

▓ However, before the completion of the revision of the said Statute, the current regulation stipulates that people from the Taiwan area who have not obtained permits may not travel to the Mainland area. According to this regulation, any citizen should apply for permit to travel to the Mainland. In some cases, travel agencies make the applications on behalf of the Taiwanese tourists, so that the general public is probably unaware of this procedure. Also, multiple entry and exit permits may be applied for, so that there is no need to make an application every trip. The aforementioned person or his travel agent had not made any application for a permit, and, according to the regulations, should be penalized.

▓ There is a certain discrepancy between such a regulation and the actual situation. The revision will replace the permit system with a system that requires the declaration of one’s destination. The procedures for the declaration may be done by the travel agency or the airline company. In the future, departing Taiwan citizens going through customs in the airport will also be inquired by the customs officers whether they are going to the Mainland area. They can answer by stating their destination.

Mainland Authorities Understand the Signals of Taiwan’s Commercial Broadcasting Stations Have Been Hijacked by the Mainland Side But Have Done Nothing to Ameliorate the Situation

Q: Concerning the Mainland’s hijacking of Taiwan’s stations, how is Taiwan dealing with this situation?

A:
▓ Since July last year, the Mainland has changed and reinforced the radio waves of its broadcasts, thereby hijacking the signals of Taiwan’s stations. The Broadcasting Corporation of China (BCC) and the Taichung Station of the Cheng Sheng Broadcasting Corporation, which are seriously affected by the hijacking, were being overridden by the Mainland’s 666KHz Radio Haixia, which has a significantly strong military background. The other stations seriously affected are: the Hsien Sheng Broadcasting Station of Taoyuan, the Feng Ming Broadcasting Station of Pingtung, the New Hakka Radio Station, the Philharmonic Radio Taipei Co. Ltd., and the Taichung Frequency Radio Station.

▓ During this period of time, we have been communicating with the Mainland, mainly through BCC General Manager Lee Ching-ping’s several trips to the Mainland to negotiate with the agencies and officials concerned, particularly Messrs. Zhou Mingwei and Zhang Mingqing. Mainland authorities said they were aware of the situation, but they have actually not done anything to improve the situation.

▓ Mr. Jie Yanzhen, Vice President of the Huayi Broadcasting Corporation, which is closely connected with the Mainland’s Radio Haixia, came to Taiwan together with a delegation on June 24 this year to attend the “Cross-Strait Conference on Broadcast Exchanges” hosted by the BCC. At that time, Mr. Lee informed him of this situation and recommended that he visit certain places to actually listen to the broadcasts. Mr. Jie said that he was aware of the hijacking of signals and expressed that he would work earnestly to solve the issue. However, the Mainland side has not done anything to improve the situation until now.

▓Deputy Director-General Wu Jia-huei of the Directorate General of Telecommunications, Ministry of Transportation and Communications, together with over ten members of the （Republic of） China Radio Association, has discussed the matter with the Fujien Radio Management Association on September 12. However, after several communication involving Taiwan’s Government officials, civilian corporations, and Mainland authorities, the Mainland side has not yet been able to effectively deal with the situation until now.

▓ We want to hereby point out that both sides of the Strait should work hard together in maintaining the proper use of radio waves and eliminate illegal interferences. This is the responsibility of any Government. At the same time, we call on the Mainland side to be sincere in ameliorating the hijacking of the signals of Taiwan stations, which has been going on for more than a year now.