Taipei, July 1 (CNA) President Chen Shui-bian opened the country's first television channel broadcast entirely in the Hakka dialect Tuesday.
Chen, who is descended from a Hakka family from southern mainland China's Fujian Province, said at a ceremony that the channel, established at a cost of NT$20 million, is aimed at boosting the culture of the country's 5 million Hakkas.
Posing as a news reader, Chen announced the opening of Channel 17 in fluent Hakkanese.
The channel will broadcast programs in Hakka around the clock.