1928?2006 official newspaper of the Kuomintang
The
Central Daily News
was the official
newspaper
of the
Kuomintang
and is one of the world's oldest
Chinese language
newspapers, having been in circulation since 1928. The Kuomintang made the decision to temporarily cease publication of the newspaper effective June 1, 2006, because it could no longer subsidize the newspaper's snowballing debts, which had amounted to around
NT$
800 million (US$24.5 million), almost twice the overall assets of the party. It is now a dedicated online publication available to Taiwanese and Chinese readers in both
Taiwan
and
Mainland China
, written in both
traditional
and
simplified Chinese characters
. Relations between both sides of the
Taiwan Strait
are one of the most important topics, as well as business.
History
[
edit
]
Central Daily News
was launched in
Shanghai
on 1 February 1928, as a mouthpiece of the Kuomintang and began circulation in the then Chinese capital
Nanking
. The paper had previously temporarily ceased publication on 13 December 1937, when the capital was occupied by the
Japanese military
in the
Second Sino-Japanese War
.
[1]
The paper was relocated to the temporary Chinese capital
Chongqing
and resumed publication on September 1, 1938, before returning to Nanjing after the war. In 1949, the paper was relocated to yet another temporary Chinese capital,
Taipei
on the island of
Taiwan
, when the Kuomintang fled mainland China during the
Chinese Civil War
.
[2]
In 1950, the Kuomintang, fearing sociopolitical instability and communist insurgency, began a four-decade-long
authoritarian rule
, beginning with the
suspension of the constitution
, which included a ban on the
free press
. During this time, the
Central Daily News
became the most widely read newspaper in Taiwan.
[3]
However, when the ban on free press was lifted in 1987, the newspaper began facing fierce competition and, as a result of its
conservative
image and connection with the past Kuomintang authoritarianism, it began losing popularity.
By April 2006, the paper accumulated debts exceeding NT$800 million and was sustaining losses of NT$8.44 million each month in the same year. As part of new austerity measures implemented by Kuomintang Chairman
Ma Ying-jeou
, the
Central Standing Committee
resolved to cease publication of the paper by the end of May 2006. The paper retained a small staff of 70 to update its website.
[4]
After being shut down in June, the newspaper was reborn on September 13, 2006, as an electronic newspaper.
[5]
The website was taken down during a personnel change in May 2018, but remains down to this day.
[6]
See also
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References
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External links
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]