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2010-04-29 03:26 PM
The crackdown provoked accusations that the government was looking for a pretext to remove critical voices from the airwaves, since many of the broadcasters were sympathetic to the opposition Democratic Progressive Party.
Critics alleged that the ruling Kuomintang wanted to suppress criticism of government plans for the signing of a controversial Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement with China planned for June, especially ahead of crucial year-end local elections.
Wu heard an update on the latest situation with the crackdown during the regular weekly Cabinet meeting Thursday morning.
The number of illegal radio stations dropped to eight from 190 in the third quarter of 2008, Wu said. The amount of illegal medicine caught rose to 150 incidences this week from an average of 48 a week during the first quarter of the previous year, he said.
Per week, 73 cases were referred to prosecutors, compared to an average of 11 a year ago, according to government statistics.
Rooting out counterfeit and low-quality medicine and closing down underground radio stations were ways of safeguarding the public's health and security, Wu said. The premier instructed the Ministry of Justice, the Department of Health and the National Communications Commission to continue their campaign and "build an environment where one can safely take medicine."
The phenomenon of illegal radio stations started during the Martial Law era and shortly after in the 1980s, when most of the media were still under tight government supervision. The broadcasters turned into a rare channel for alternative opinions while many of the mainstream media were sympathetic to the KMT.
Source:
| (Yimber Gaviria, Colombia) |
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