Hong Kong media mogul sees Taiwan as springboard to China

HONG KONG — Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai said Tuesday Taiwan was set to be the "centre of cultural production" for the Greater China market as he gears up for the launch of his TV channels on the island."With its rule of law and protection of intellectual property, Taiwan is destined to be the centre of production of films, TV programmes and cultural products for Greater China," he said at the Asia Media Summit in Hong Kong.Publications by Lai's Next Media Group, famous for its muck-raking style and anti-Beijing stance, have been banned in the mainland China.But instead of trying to push his way into China, Lai has extended the boundaries of his operations from Hong Kong to Taiwan since 2001 with the launch of the hugely successful Taiwanese editions of the weekly Next magazine and the Apple Daily newspaper.His group is in talks with Taiwan's media watchdog for permission to run news, information and entertainment TV channels, according to media reports.The reports said discussions had been put on hold due to the authorities' concern over his sensationalist style and focus on sex and violence.But Lai remained confident about his foray into television."TV in Taiwan -- that's what we want to conquer in time, although it's really difficult."The tycoon said his focus on content production and Internet-based TV would eventually help him enter the market in China, where, like Taiwan, Mandarin is spoken."The future for us is content production and having that content syndicated and sold to various media groups.""Hopefully, when Taiwan becomes the centre of cultural production, we will have the Greater China market through Internet communication." Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved. More »

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