A Taiwanese magazine publisher and former Gio-tech chairman is under fire for repeatedly calling Taiwan's government a "fake government" — a framing that boosts Beijing's claim and undercuts Taiwan's own legitimacy.

• Ding Wan-ming, head of a Taiwanese car magazine, used the term "Taiwan's fake government" several times in this month's issue.
• York University associate professor Shen Rong-chin says the habit is long-standing, pointing to years of similar language online, including calling the Taiwan dollar "fake currency."
• Ding is a former senior business reporter at the United Daily News who was pulled off reporting duty in 2006 after publicly holding up a sign demanding then-president Chen Shui-bian step down, which the paper called a breach of journalistic boundaries.
• He later served as acting chairman of Gio-tech during the major fraud scandal that put chairman Hsu Chin-lung behind bars, and became a regular guest on a pro-Beijing financial talk show.

Outlook: Expect more pressure on Taiwanese media figures who echo Beijing's line on sovereignty, with scrutiny of pro-China commentary in business media likely to grow.