Using rumors to deprecate Taiwan’s freedom of the press as being manipulated through political intervention is baseless and damages the reputation of this government. I hope the signatories will more scrupulously check the validity of claims before making accusations. I also hope that they will stop spreading such false accusations.
4. Retrogression of press freedom unacceptable.
The ROC government has spared no effort to respect and protect press freedom. Indeed, the thriving development of Taiwan’s mass media is a telling manifestation of our press freedom and freedom of speech. According to the 2009 edition of the Freedom of the Press report released by New York-based Freedom House, Taiwan’s news media environment ranked as “free” and second-best in Asia. The ROC government humbly accepts the suggestions made in the Freedom House report concerning Taiwan’s press freedom in the hope that we can achieve a better score next year.
5. No interference in transfer of media ownership.
The open letter urges our government to pay attention to groups with close ties to mainland China that are buying into Taiwan’s media, as their financial muscle might be used to undermine Taiwan’s hard-won press freedom. I would like to express our government’s gratitude for the signatories’ concern in this regard. Since the repeal of the Publication Act in 1999, however, publication of newspapers no longer requires special approval, and shareholdings can be freely transferred. Moreover, governmental interference in private investments in the mass media amounts to interference in press freedom.
Currently, the ROC government has not lifted restrictions on mainland Chinese investment in or operation of Taiwan’s newspapers. In the future, we will keep close watch on whether capital from mainland China is flowing into Taiwan’s media world in order to preserve our national security.
6. Easing of restrictions on public demonstrations.
Our government is profoundly aware that we are at a critical juncture in the development of our free and democratic system. To demonstrate our determination to enhance the protection of the right of assembly, and to carry out President Ma’s [Ying-jeou (馬英九)] campaign pledge to amend the law by requiring only advance notification in place of prior application for permission to hold demonstrations, amendments to the Parade and Assembly Act (集會遊行法) absolutely will not impose stricter requirements but will further ease the already mild restrictions.
In addition, the proposed amendments to the act will place tighter limits on the power of police to disperse gatherings as well as remove provisions regarding criminal penalties. President Ma has promised that the revised law will provide greater latitude than allowed in the United States and other advanced democracies.
Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to all who are concerned for Taiwan, including the signatories of the open letter. We assure you that this administration will never cease striving to safeguard and strengthen our people’s freedom, democracy and human rights.
SU JUN-PIN
Minister
Government Information Office
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