Taiwan Media Sparks Controversy by Calling Trump a 'Felon'... "Serious Matter"

Taiwan's public broadcasting organization, the Public Television Service Foundation (PTS), which operates an English channel, has sparked controversy in Taiwan by referring to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump as a "felon."

Yonhap News

According to Taiwan's Central News Agency and United Daily News on the 10th, the English channel "Taiwan Plus," operated by PTS, reported on the U.S. presidential election news from Florida on the 6th (local time), stating in a video that "the United States is choosing between the first female president and a convicted felon, and it appears to be leaning toward the felon."

Taiwan's Central News Agency reported that "PTS confirmed that this report was inappropriate in its description of the two candidates and, to avoid controversy, temporarily deleted it after internal discussions."

Wang Hongwei, a legislator from Taiwan's main opposition party, the Kuomintang, posted on his social media account the day before, saying, "This not only damages Taiwan's dignity but could also harm Taiwan-U.S. relations," and added, "PTS, as a government broadcaster funded by taxpayers' money, must maintain professionalism and neutrality."

He continued, "Is this report representing the ruling party (Democratic Progressive Party) stance, or is it the journalist's personal view? PTS is conducting biased reporting with a specific political stance, and the ruling party is privately using PTS, but the opposition will not compromise."

PTS issued a statement saying that the report was made by a journalist named Louise Watt and that "Taiwan Plus immediately activated internal mechanisms to review the reporting plan and manuscript procedures, demanding adherence to public media principles and objective, fair, and balanced reporting."

Lee Yuan, Taiwan's Minister of Culture, met with reporters at the Taiwan National Human Rights Museum the day before and explained, "The Ministry of Culture informed PTS that the matter was very serious as soon as it understood the news content that night," and added, "PTS, which operates independently, discussed the issue through its council system and promptly removed the news."

Regarding opposition concerns that this report could harm Taiwan-U.S. relations, Minister Lee said, "It is uncertain whether the issue will continue to be highlighted," and noted, "This incident is indeed quite serious."

Some in Taiwan have expressed concerns that with Trump, who did not clearly affirm a commitment to "Taiwan's defense" during the U.S. presidential election period, winning, there may be changes in Taiwan-U.S. relations policies compared to the Biden administration era.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.