Censorship Accusations: Sanlih's '54 New Views' Bleeps Out 'June Fourth Tiananmen' Reference

In November 2014, while discussing historical relations between Lee Teng-hui and Chang Yung-fa on the Sanlih political talk show '54 New Views', writer Guan Ren-jian mentioned the background of the 'June Fourth Tiananmen Square Incident'. However, when the episode was broadcast, the phrase was bleeped out with a high-pitched tone, and the Chinese subtitles were censored. This move triggered intense criticism from netizens and media watchdogs, who accused Sanlih of political self-censorship to protect its business interests in mainland China. Sanlih's subsequent dismissal of the incident as a 'post-production error' failed to assuage public concerns regarding media independence.