TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s Supreme Administrative Court on Thursday dismissed a second appeal by the Broadcasting Corporation of China, ordering the broadcaster to return two FM radio frequencies in a final ruling.
BCC, the nation’s largest radio broadcaster, had previously been granted use of the two FM frequencies to air programs countering Chinese Communist Party broadcasts. That initiative ended in 2004, after which the government sought to recover the frequencies, per CNA.
When BCC applied to renew its broadcast license for the two frequencies used by BCC Baodao Radio and BCC i Radio on Dec. 30, 2015, the National Communications Commission added a “right of revocation” clause to the license. Under the terms, the NCC could unconditionally revoke the license upon notification, and BCC would not be entitled to compensation or other claims.
In 2016, the NCC approved applications from the Hakka Affairs Council and the Indigenous Peoples Cultural Foundation to operate the two frequencies for their own broadcasting services. That same year, the NCC notified BCC that it must cease using the frequencies in accordance with the renewal terms, effective March 1, 2017.
The NCC formally invoked the revocation clause in 2017, withdrawing BCC’s licenses for the two frequencies. BCC refused to comply and filed two lawsuits with the Taipei High Administrative Court, challenging the government’s authority to reclaim the frequencies and the order to cease broadcasting.
In February 2022, the Taipei High Administrative Court ruled in favor of the NCC in both cases, finding that the regulator had the legal authority to reclaim the frequencies and that BCC was obligated to return them. BCC appealed the rulings, including a challenge to the deadline for returning the frequencies, but continued to refuse compliance.
The Supreme Administrative Court’s decision on Thursday upholds earlier rulings and confirms the NCC’s right to revoke BCC’s licenses for the two frequencies, bringing the long-running legal dispute to a close.
