Taiwan public TV launches news broadcasts in SE Asian languages
2018/04/03
Taiwan’s Public Television Service commenced April 2 regular news broadcasts in Indonesian, Thai and Vietnamese, spotlighting the nation’s efforts to deepen exchanges with Southeast Asia and provide a supportive environment for residents from the countries.
According to the government-supported network, the five-minute Vietnamese, Indonesian and Thai segments will air weekdays at 6:55 a.m., 7:55 a.m. and 8:55 a.m., respectively, and can also be viewed on its Facebook pages and YouTube channel. The programs will highlight the latest news and events from across the nation and region as well as policy and lifestyle stories about immigrants.
Tchen Yu-chiou, chairperson of Taiwan PTS Foundation, said the offerings demonstrate the channel’s commitment to serving the 1.1 million migrants and students from Southeast Asia residing in the country. It is hoped that the services will promote cultural interactions and help recent arrivals learn more about Taiwan, she added.
The segments are the beginning of concerted efforts to produce quality news coverage for this growing audience, Tchen said, noting that PTS intends to dedicate more broadcast time to such languages going forward.
Sri Indah Wijayanti, head of the labor division at the Indonesian Economic and Trade Office to Taipei, welcomed the addition of the programming and expressed hope that the services will help foster greater understanding of local society among new immigrants.
The broadcasts mark the latest step in government measures to boost exchanges between Taiwan and Southeast Asian nations in line with the New Southbound Policy. A key plank of the President Tsai Ing-wen’s national development strategy, the policy seeks to deepen agricultural, business, cultural, education, tourism and trade ties with the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations member states, six South Asian countries, Australia and New Zealand.
Source: Taiwan Today (https://taiwantoday.tw/news.php?unit=10&post=132015)
