Fifty days into its term, a disturbing trend has emerged in the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government’s strategy to maintain public support. The Cabinet, in its desire to shift the focus of frustration, has repeatedly sought to turn the media into its personal scapegoat.
As part of efforts to reverse the slide in domestic share prices, a task force headed by Vice Premier Chiu Cheng-hsiung (邱正雄) announced a series of measures on June 28, one of which entailed encouraging insurance companies to invest around NT$8 trillion (US$263 billion) in the stock market. The Cabinet also seeks to interest the companies in injecting capital into the public sector to boost domestic demand.
But after the TAIEX dropped again on the next business day, June 30, Financial Supervisory Commission head Gordon Chen (陳樹) responded to reporters’ questions on the stock market’s performance by accusing the media of “misunderstanding” the government’s pledge to seek investment from insurance companies and “writing incorrect headlines about the NT$8 trillion” that “misled the public.”
When the Suhua Freeway controversy re-erupted on Sunday, the Cabinet again accused the media of misinforming the public. Speaking in Hualien, Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) said the government would proceed with the Suhua Freeway project by first completing the least controversial stretch. Liu’s announcement came as a shock to the project’s opponents in light of the Environmental Protection Administration’s most recent ruling, and environmental groups lambasted President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) for breaking his campaign promise to gauge public opinion before making contentious decisions.
Cabinet Spokeswoman Vanessa Shih (史亞平) immediately responded to the outcry by accusing the media of misrepresenting the premier’s remarks and confusing the Suhua Freeway with the Suhua Highway.
Prior to Ma’s inauguration on May 20, Yiin Chii-ming (尹啟銘), speaking as the minister-designate of economic affairs, said the nation’s stock index could rise as high as 20,000 points under the new government. With the TAIEX plummeting in the past weeks, those words have, not surprisingly, returned to haunt Yiin.
The minister’s first line of defense was to express regret yesterday that his remarks before the inauguration had been “distorted” by the media.
The media would seem to be a convenient excuse — and one that avoids addressing the legitimate concerns of the public.
The government should be more careful about accusing the media of lying or misunderstanding facts when the evidence speaks for itself. In the case of Chen, he might need a reminder that the Cabinet released a press statement detailing the task force’s plans to increase investment in the stock market.
As for the furor over the Suhua Freeway, Shih is casting doubt on the accuracy of not just one journalist, but every reporter who heard the premier say loudly and clearly that the Cabinet had decided “to begin constructing part of the Suhua Freeway this year ... to provide residents of eastern Taiwan with a safe way home.”
Media spin is no stranger in Taiwan and is a problem that should be highlighted to promote improvement in public discourse. At the same time, the public should not swallow shameless blame-shifting by the government without questioning the legitimacy of the Cabinet’s accusations.
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