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Outlet profile

Focus Taiwan

Taiwanese state-funded national news agency

Owned byOwned by the Taiwanese (Republic of China) government. Focus Taiwan is the English-language service of the Central News Agency (CNA), a statutory non-profit national news agency created under the Central News Agency Establishment Act and supervised by the Ministry of Culture. The Premier appoints the board of directors and supervisors.
FundingMostly government money. One reported breakdown shows direct government subsidies of about TWD 360 million and government-commissioned work of about TWD 86 million, against total income of about TWD 635 million. That puts state-derived income at roughly 70%. The rest comes from selling news services and other commercial income.
On the administrationmostly neutral

Background

CNA was founded by the Kuomintang (KMT) in Guangzhou in 1924 and moved to Taiwan after the Chinese Civil War. For decades it was closely tied to the KMT-led state. It operated as a private company from 1973 to 1996. On July 1, 1996, after democratization, it became a non-profit national news agency under a law passed by the Legislative Yuan. Today the government still funds most of its budget, and the Premier appoints its board, so the state keeps structural influence over the agency despite its stated editorial independence. CNA publishes in Chinese, English and Japanese, and Focus Taiwan is the English and international-facing brand. Its content is mostly factual wire reporting on politics, cross-strait relations, business and technology. It leans toward official Taiwanese government framing and government and diplomatic sources, which is common for a state-funded agency. In 2026 it has covered Trump administration actions mainly through their effect on Taiwan: the January trade deal cutting tariffs on Taiwanese goods to 15%, the February global tariff (which the Executive Yuan called limited in impact), and the July Section 301 tariffs with a 10% duty on some Taiwanese goods. That coverage is largely descriptive and relays Taiwanese officials' responses, with little editorializing about the U.S. administration. Media-bias raters and state-media monitors list it among state-funded outlets. I could not retrieve its full list of editorial controversies, so no specific ones are described here.

Sources

  1. Central News Agency (Taiwan) - Wikipedia
  2. Central News Agency (CNA) / Focus Taiwan - Media Bias/Fact Check
  3. Central News Agency (CNA) - State Media Monitor
  4. Focus Taiwan - About Us
  5. U.S. lowers tariff on Taiwanese goods to 15% in trade deal (update) - Focus Taiwan
  6. Impact of Trump's 10% tariff on Taiwan 'limited': Executive Yuan - Focus Taiwan
  7. U.S. announces Section 301 tariffs; some Taiwan goods to face 10% duty - Focus Taiwan

Profile compiled 2026-10-20; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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