TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Mirror TV will launch the first new news television service in 10 years on channel 86 as the result of a National Communications Commission (NCC) decision Wednesday (June 28).

The launch of Mirror News has been mired in controversy, as opposition parties accused the company of receiving unfairly favorable treatment from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government. Approval of the channel was passed in a vote of 4 against 0, with two NCC members reportedly abstaining.

An estimated 2.63 million households, or 56.9% of the total, will be able to start watching the new TV station in mid-July, per the Liberty Times. The NCC said it would closely watch the company’s shareholder structure and its compliance with media fairness rules.

The list of shareholders featured prominent media personalities, as well as business people from the technology and construction sectors. Mirror Media President Pei Wei (裴偉), who served as managing editor of the Taiwan edition of Next Magazine, Yageo Corporation Chair Pierre Chen (陳泰銘), and Inventec Corporation founder Yeh Kou-i (葉國一) were named as shareholders.

During the NCC meeting Wednesday morning, lawmakers from the New Power Party (NPP) and the Kuomintang (KMT) protested outside, accusing the body of rushing through the approval of Mirror News. The company was also hit by reports of a precarious financial situation, but executives said this would improve once the public could watch their TV programs, per CNA.

The company's former chairman Chen Chien-ping (陳建平) later that day issued a statement expressing disappointment over the decision, saying it was "politically motivated" as the NCC disregarded the embezzlement accusations against its pro-DPP leader and over the slow progress of the district prosecutors in investigating the wrongdoings. Chen called for judicial independence to be free of political influence.