PTS Board Faces Deadlock; Minister of Culture Lee Yuan: Public Media More Crucial in Era of Fake News
The Public Television Service (PTS) board of directors is facing a deadlock due to the collective resignation of eight review committee members. Minister of Culture Lee Yuan emphasized the critical role of public media in an age of misinformation, vowing to uphold the system and ensure a fair selection process.
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- 📰 Published: April 18, 2026 at 11:42
- 🔍 Collected: April 18, 2026 at 12:01 (18 min after Published)
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 18, 2026 at 21:40 (9h 38m after Collected)
The 8th Public Television Service (PTS) Board of Directors and Supervisors Review Committee recently saw eight review committee members collectively resign, leading to a deadlock. Minister of Culture Lee Yuan stated today that in the current media landscape saturated with fake news, public media is even more important, and the Ministry of Culture will not abandon it.
Lee Yuan urged everyone to "unite and not worry. I will persist in this matter until the end, and there will definitely be a result."
Lee Yuan attended the opening day event for the Ministry of Culture's "Picture Book and Illustrated Book School" held at Huashan 1914 Creative Park in Taipei this morning. Before the event, he responded to media inquiries regarding the PTS board and supervisor selection.
Lee Yuan stated that he received a letter from the Legislative Yuan yesterday agreeing to the resignation of the eight review committee members. "The next step is for us to formally request the Executive Yuan, as per procedure, to ask them to nominate new committee members to the Legislative Yuan."
Lee Yuan explained that external parties have consistently believed this deadlock is due to the Ministry of Culture failing to negotiate. "Actually, this issue dates back to 20 years ago when the Public Broadcasting Group was established, emphasizing the withdrawal of political parties and the military. The rules of the game were clear: the Executive Yuan nominates, and the Legislative Yuan, through party consultation, selects a group of impartial social figures, who then vote."
Lee Yuan said, "This group (review committee members) already represents impartial social figures. If we still have to go back and ask who the party consultations decided to vote for, it sounds very absurd. Everyone has misunderstood that everything must go through party consultation."
Lee Yuan stated that Taiwan's public media was hard-won. Public Television is entering its 28th year this year, and the Public Broadcasting Group is celebrating its 20th anniversary, with an ever-increasing number of channels. "The more the media landscape is fragmented and filled with fake news, the more important public media becomes. Precisely because it is important, I must uphold the system and not compromise at this time."
Lee Yuan also expressed his lack of understanding as to why the blue and white parties went to the Legislative Yuan to amend the law, stipulating that the board of directors cannot continue in office, while simultaneously preventing the election of new members. "The current predicament is caused by the opposition legislators shelving the issue, so you cannot blame us. On one hand, the law is amended to prevent the current board from continuing, will this push us into an even worse deadlock, forcing us to take the next step?"
Lee Yuan stated that he joined the Public Broadcasting Group 20 years ago and has deep emotional ties to it. "Over these 20 years, we have experienced many absurd things, even two periods where the board was not established for as long as 1000 days. Yet, we persevered. We must still believe that we are fortunate to still be working in the Public Broadcasting Group; otherwise, I believe people would not find truly trustworthy media." (Editor: Qiu Zu-yin) 1160418
Lee Yuan urged everyone to "unite and not worry. I will persist in this matter until the end, and there will definitely be a result."
Lee Yuan attended the opening day event for the Ministry of Culture's "Picture Book and Illustrated Book School" held at Huashan 1914 Creative Park in Taipei this morning. Before the event, he responded to media inquiries regarding the PTS board and supervisor selection.
Lee Yuan stated that he received a letter from the Legislative Yuan yesterday agreeing to the resignation of the eight review committee members. "The next step is for us to formally request the Executive Yuan, as per procedure, to ask them to nominate new committee members to the Legislative Yuan."
Lee Yuan explained that external parties have consistently believed this deadlock is due to the Ministry of Culture failing to negotiate. "Actually, this issue dates back to 20 years ago when the Public Broadcasting Group was established, emphasizing the withdrawal of political parties and the military. The rules of the game were clear: the Executive Yuan nominates, and the Legislative Yuan, through party consultation, selects a group of impartial social figures, who then vote."
Lee Yuan said, "This group (review committee members) already represents impartial social figures. If we still have to go back and ask who the party consultations decided to vote for, it sounds very absurd. Everyone has misunderstood that everything must go through party consultation."
Lee Yuan stated that Taiwan's public media was hard-won. Public Television is entering its 28th year this year, and the Public Broadcasting Group is celebrating its 20th anniversary, with an ever-increasing number of channels. "The more the media landscape is fragmented and filled with fake news, the more important public media becomes. Precisely because it is important, I must uphold the system and not compromise at this time."
Lee Yuan also expressed his lack of understanding as to why the blue and white parties went to the Legislative Yuan to amend the law, stipulating that the board of directors cannot continue in office, while simultaneously preventing the election of new members. "The current predicament is caused by the opposition legislators shelving the issue, so you cannot blame us. On one hand, the law is amended to prevent the current board from continuing, will this push us into an even worse deadlock, forcing us to take the next step?"
Lee Yuan stated that he joined the Public Broadcasting Group 20 years ago and has deep emotional ties to it. "Over these 20 years, we have experienced many absurd things, even two periods where the board was not established for as long as 1000 days. Yet, we persevered. We must still believe that we are fortunate to still be working in the Public Broadcasting Group; otherwise, I believe people would not find truly trustworthy media." (Editor: Qiu Zu-yin) 1160418