The Broadcast Cooperative Network for the Minnan Dialect, led by China National Radio (CNR) based in Beijing, held a ceremony to accept the membership of two radio stations in Taiwan, the Sound of Victory Radio Station and Success Radio Station. The ceremony was held on Oct 30 in Zhangzhou city, Fujian province.

The cooperative network for the Minnan, or southern Fujian, dialect includes a cross-Straits broadcasting team with 10 members on the mainland and seven in Taiwan.

Following the ceremony, network members will hold a joint interview in Zhangpu, Yunxiao and Dongshan, three counties in Zhangzhou city. They plan to visit and report on cultural relics with common roots on both sides of the Taiwan Straits, including Weihui Temple in Yunxiao and Guandi Temple in Dongshan.

The reporting group will also cover important exchange platforms for cross-Straits agriculture and fishery industries.

Radio stations on both sides will also cooperate on joint columns and exchange radio station operating experience.

Huang Shaohui, deputy director of CNR’s Taiwan broadcasting center, noted that broadcasting in the Minnan dialect, as a common dialect for people in southern Fujian and Taiwan, is an important exchange platform for cross-Straits communication. The newly admitted Taiwan stations will help develop the Broadcast Cooperative Network for the Minnan Dialect into a bridge for cross-Straits communication.

The Broadcast Cooperative Network for the Minnan Dialect was established in September 2010 in Xiamen, Fujian. The six founding members include the Taiwan Broadcasting Center of CNR, Voice of Strait Broadcasting Station, Southeast Broadcasting Company, Minnan Voice Broadcasting of Xiamen Radio and Television Group, Citong Voice Broadcasting of Quanzhou Radio Station and Zhangzhou Radio Station.

In December 2011, five Taiwan radio stations joined the network, including Yunjia Broadcasting Company, Taiwan Voice Broadcasting Station, Voice of South Broadcasting Company, AppleLine and YouthLine. The news signifies a step forward in the co-construction of a cross-Straits Minnan dialect broadcast platform.

Edited by Chen Zhilin and Michael Thai