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Dealing with cross-strait news exchanges

There have been cross-strait news exchanges for 20 years -- from significant to insignificant, from rarely to frequently. Recently, exchanges seem to have gone smoothly, but there are problems that we should take into consideration.

Looking back to 1987, Hsu Lu (徐璐) and Lee Yung-te (李永得), the first two Taiwanese correspondents to report from China, started the cross-strait news exchanges. Then in 1991, Fan Liqing (范麗青) and Guo Weifeng (郭偉峰) were the first two Chinese reporters sent to Taiwan, reporting on the fishery dispute involving the Min-shi fishing vessel. Twenty years have passed and more than 13,800 Taiwanese reporters have reported from China and more than 700 Chinese reporters have reported from Taiwan.

Although China sees the media as a propaganda tool, it is still willing to promote cross-strait news exchanges since the Chinese government still has absolute control over the media and can distort the final product. Even though Taiwanese media outlets and reporters can apply to gather news in China, they still have to comply with official arrangements.

A minority of Taiwanese media outlets that want to expand into the Chinese market cooperate with the local authorities and thus directly or indirectly, deliberately or inadvertently, dance to China's tune. For this privilege they abandon any media autonomy they might have.

Even if there are a few Taiwanese reporters brave enough to report on issues like government corruption, the reports can only be published in Taiwan. Chinese reporters who come to Taiwan also must follow the Chinese government's directives and arrangements, making it almost impossible for them to produce independent news coverage.

There have been cases where Chinese journalists have produced false or distorted reporting. Chinese reporters who can travel to Taiwan mainly come from media outlets belonging to the central government.

However, China is constantly accusing Taiwan of hindering news exchanges, including accusations of government-imposed restrictions on Chinese journalists in Taiwan and of pressure put on interviewees through intelligence agencies.

To mark the 20th anniversary of cross-strait news exchanges, China has put forward a proposal to establish a system for permanent reporting. It would appear that the Chinese government intends to deepen the exchange, but given the current situation this proposal will only increase bias and intensify China's unification propaganda. But if Taiwan doesn't agree, it will inevitably fall into the trap set by China's accusation of obstructing cross-strait news exchanges.

In order to correct the defects of cross-strait news exchanges, Taiwan should push for an equal expansion of exchanges to increase the frequency of Chinese local media outlets participating in the news exchange. Local media outlets in China will therefore have a higher level of autonomy.

Second, the government should suggest prioritizing which Chinese media outlets can base their reporters in Taiwan based on the outlet's circulations and viewer ratings.

Lastly, Taiwan should propose test exchanges between media outlets on each side of the Taiwan Strait. For example, media can conduct reciprocal sales of their publications at exhibitions and selected sales points. These suggestions are legitimate and sufficient ways of correcting the defects in current cross-strait news exchanges. They also represent democratic values and free market operations.

Weber Lai is an associate professor in the Graduate School of Applied Media Arts at National Taiwan University of Arts.

Translated by Ted Yang
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