TAIWAN'S ICRT STRUGGLING TO KEEP ITS FREQUENCY AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L TAIPEI 003951

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/TC, EAP/PA, EAP/PD
DEPARTMENT PASS AIT/WASHINGTON - SCHRAGE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/23/2015
TAGS: KMDR KPAO OPRC TW
SUBJECT: TAIWAN'S ICRT STRUGGLING TO KEEP ITS FREQUENCY AND
STAY ON THE AIR

Classified By: ADIR DAVID KEEGAN, REASON 1.4(B)

1.(C) Summary: A year-old battle between Taiwan's only
English-language radio station ICRT and the Government
Information Office (GIO) has resumed as the DPP government
attempts to make good on its campaign promise to legitimize
underground radio stations by giving them frequencies. The
re-organization of Taiwan's radio spectrum would involve
re-locating ICRT at a new frequency, thereby necessitating
major expenditures for ICRT. ICRT's management says the
station would essentially be forced out of business. Expat
community leaders and a number of Western representative
offices in Taiwan have urged the government to make an
exception allowing ICRT to stay in its current position. End
Summary.

2.(C) ICRT holds a desirable location in the middle of the
dial and broadcasts on super-strength- it was originally used
as a tool to jam PRC broadcasts into Taiwan. In the 2004
presidential campaign, the DPP counted on illegal underground
radio stations to mobilize supporters. The DPP reportedly
promised the radio operators that they would be legitimized
by the new government. Pressure from the radio operators to
make good on that promise, combined with a desire to
diversify the media in Taiwan has led to a plan to totally
overhaul Taiwan's radio spectrum. The plan calls for
approximately 30% of radio stations to be relocated on the
spectrum, as well as to have their broadcast strength
reduced. This would allow more stations to squeeze into the
spectrum. ICRT would be moved to the very end of the
spectrum- the Siberia of radio frequencies- and would be
reduced to a medium-strength broadcaster. The move would
require ICRT to build a costly and entirely new network of
relay stations, potentially driving the company out of
business.

3.(C) Nelson Chang, Chairman of ICRT's Board of Directors,
alleges the move is politically motivated since ICRT received
support from the KMT government since 1979. Once the DPP
took over, he says ICRT lost all its government funding and
was evicted from its facilities on public land. He sees this
latest move as an attempt to marginalize ICRT even further
and put increased financial pressure on its operations.
Chang claimed to AIT that the way in which the GIO has
handled the reorganization has been sloppy and so clearly
partisan as to be "almost laughable". He read us a letter
from the GIO claiming that ICRT had agreed to move to its new
frequency without any financial assistance from the
government. He also showed us a return letter, sent
September 23, saying this was patently untrue. He says that
the other radio stations targeted by the reorganization make
it clear it is a political move- the other major target being
the Broadcasting Corporation of China (BCC),a KMT-owned
station.

4.(C) The issue has been prominent in the press over the
last week as the American Chamber of Commerce and Taipei's
Community Service Center (a major service center for the
expatriate community founded with the assistance of AIT) made
statements to the press and representations to the GIO on
ICRT's behalf. They have asked that ICRT be given a special
exception because of the important role it plays in
disseminating emergency and public safety information to
foreigners living in Taiwan. The public statements are said
to have created pressure on the government to find a workable
compromise with ICRT. Those organizations as well as
representatives of Western trade offices are keeping up the
pressure. Nelson Chang says that ICRT and the GIO have
entered the end game and it will result in one of three
options: 1) ICRT remaining at its current location with its
current strength, 2) ICRT moving to a new location and/or
being reduced to medium-strength, but with financial
assistance from the government to make the changes, or 3)
ICRT being forced into those changes, Chang resigning his
position and the radio station going out of business due to
financial hardship.

5.(C) COMMENT: This is a battle that ICRT has fought and
weathered before. While it is hard to believe that the
government's ultimate goal is to drive ICRT out of business,
it may be that its continued existence is not commercially
viable in light of the other goals of the GIO. ICRT has had
continuing financial problems since 1999, as have Taiwan's
English-language newspapers. There simply is no model for a
financially successful, locally produced, English-language
media outlet in Taiwan. A decision to make an exception for
ICRT would likely need to be politically motivated by a
desire to keep Taiwan's expat community happy.
KEEGAN