Four executives have resigned from two Taiwanese television stations to show support for a government plan to relinquish its control of the media, as the government failed to meet its Monday deadline for the reforms.
The government had planned to sell its 47 percent of shares in Taiwan Television and 75 percent in Chinese Television by Monday, as part of President Chen Shui-bian's 2000 election pledge to end state control of news media.
But the shares have yet to go on sale.
"We resign en mass to show our support for the media reform agenda," said a joint statement issued by the four government-appointed executives: Chiang Hsia, president, and Chou Rong-sheng, chairman, of Chinese Television System; and Chairman Lai Kuo-chou and President Cheng You of Taiwan Television Enterprise.
Government spokesman Yao Wen-chih on Monday blamed the legislature for failing to pass a new bill required to facilitate the share sales, saying it was still pending in Parliament.
But lawmaker Daniel Huang of the opposition People First Party said the government was to blame for the delay because it had dragged its heels in deciding how the share sales should be handled.
The opposition Nationalist Party has also promised to sell its 35 percent stake in another station, China Television Company.
The government established all three stations as propaganda tools under martial law in the 1960s, when authorities frequently closed down magazines and all television stations were state-held.
Chen vowed to end government control of all news media when he was elected in 2000. But his administration has stalled on fulfilling that promise, drawing widespread criticism for instead appointing loyalists as media executives.
