TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A new television program hosted by former President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and scheduled to premiere on Sunday morning was abruptly canceled.

Chen agreed to host the online news talk show organized by the Mirror TV news network in late 2025. Before the show’s first broadcast, Chen told organizers that Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) had ordered him to end his involvement with the project, reported UDN.

Since 2015, Chen has been on medical parole from a 20-year prison sentence for financial crimes. As part of his parole arrangement, he is forbidden from discussing political matters in public.

Chen previously hosted a radio program discussing non-political topics, which some criticized as a violation of his parole agreement. His radio program aired its last episode on Dec. 31, and Chen was preparing to launch the TV program from the start of 2026, per UDN.

The talk show received approval from the National Communications Commission in December 2025. However, before recording the first episode, Chen was contacted by Lin Hsien-ming (林憲銘), director-general of the Agency of Corrections, who relayed the order from Cho, per UDN.

Cho said Chen would be taken back to prison if he joined the television program. Chen apologized to the network and viewers who were looking forward to the program.