Message-ID: <163310Z21051994@anon.penet.fi>

Path: acsys!nntp.crl.com!decwrl!hookup!europa.eng.gtefsd.com!howland.reston.ans.net!pipex!sunic!EU.net!news.eunet.fi!anon.penet.fi

Newsgroups: alt.radio.pirate

From: an68050@anon.penet.fi (Dark Man)

X-Anonymously-To: alt.radio.pirate

Organization: Anonymous contact service

Reply-To: an68050@anon.penet.fi

Date: Sat, 21 May 1994 16:28:25 UTC

Subject: Taiwan Listens To Pirate Radio

Lines: 91





        TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) -- It's shrill, funny, irreverent,

occasionally scurrilous. It insults the mighty, defends the meek,

and fights by fair means or foul.



        You're listening to the Voice of Taiwan.



        Broadcasting from the 10th floor of an office block in suburban

Taipei, the Voice is one of four pirate radio stations that attest

to the gathering pace of democracy in what used to be a virtual

dictatorship. All the stations express opinions and encourage

call-ins.



        ``Taiwanese have been suppressed for 40 years. Now, by dialing a

number they can make their voice heard. People, not the

Nationalists, have become the masters of Taiwan,'' said Hsu

Rong-chi, manager of the Voice of Taiwan.



        The Nationalists took control of Taiwan in 1949, but in 1987

gradually began loosening their grip, allowing multiparty elections

and free speech and, in the past year, relaxing their monopoly of

the airwaves.



        ``This is the freest time in China's 5,000-year history.

Everybody wants to express his views and protect his rights,'' says

Chang Hsiang-yu, head of Taiwan National Broadcasting Co., a former

pirate station now licensed and legitimate.



        The government has tried to keep some control over radio by

setting stringent capital and equipment requirements for issuing

licenses.



        But pirate outfits like the Voice of Taiwan have dashed ahead

regardless. When the government hit back by fining each station

$22,600, the broadcasters simply raised the money from listeners.



        On Friday, Hsu was charged with inciting public lawbreaking

after he exhorted listeners to demonstrate against the demolition

of a historic Taipei building. Four people were injured in the

demonstration, and police raided the station.



        Hsu, a 43-year-old businessman and failed legislative candidate,

claims the charges are political. He could be jailed for up to

three years.



        But prosecution of Hsu may be unpopular, given his station's

widespread appeal. When it broadcast a warning that it was about to

be raided, hundreds of cabbies parked at the building in an

unsuccessful effort to block the police.



        Hsu claims his five-month-old operation is being singled out for

punishment because ``we have driven Taipei crazy'' by airing calls

from angry citizens.



        ``Many newspaper reporters are too friendly with their sources.

People don't trust the lawmakers either. They want to monitor the

government themselves,'' he said.



        Businessmen and rank-and-file civil servants phone in to expose

corruption, Hsu said in an interview.



        Unlike the official radio stations, ``we don't discuss

ideology,'' he said. ``We ask about the poorly built roads in our

neighborhood. We put the officials on the phone and let them take

questions from listeners.''



        A Nationalist legislator had an on-air tantrum when ``we simply

asked him to clarify his alleged ties with arms dealers,'' he said.



        Some critics complain that the stations are biased in favor of

the opposition Democratic Progressive Party. But Hsu points out

that he attacked one DPP official in such vituperative language

that the man is suing him.



        Lo Chuan-hsian, a government official in charge of radio and

television stations, complained that callers are allowed to level

unsubstantiated corruption charges anonymously.



        Some government officials say they have taken calls from Hsu not

knowing they are on the air.



        Chang Chen-hsin, Hsu's prosecutor, recently came on the air to

debate with the broadcaster, saying he hoped it would end the

stream of abusive calls he received after the station aired his

phone number.



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