The administration of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) recently relaxed regulations on Chinese reporters stationed in Taiwan. Chinese journalists will now be free to move around and interview people without informing the authorities beforehand. The government now encourages local as well as national Chinese media to station correspondents in Taiwan, and Chinese media workers will be able to save money by renting apartments rather than being confined to staying at certain hotels.
Ma and his ministers are always trying to please China, and these latest relaxed rules for Chinese journalists are another expression of their loyalty to what they see as their motherland. Chinese journalists have reacted to the gesture with an unexpected lack of appreciation, writing a lot of nonsense in the Chinese media to the effect that, although the new measures will allow them to save some money, they may expose them to attacks by extremists such as Taiwanese independence supporters or Tibetan independence activists residing in Taiwan.
Speaking off the record, a government official objected to these reports, saying that Taiwan is a country under the rule of law, and the suggestions made in the Chinese media were quite unwarranted in the light of the Taiwanese side’s goodwill.
Chinese reporters stationed in Taiwan have expressed these views not because they are really worried about possible attacks, but to discredit Taiwan’s democracy and give a false impression about the mainstream of public opinion in Taiwan. First, they want people in China to think Taiwan is a violent place where people’s lives and property are always under threat. Second, they want to portray Taiwanese independence advocates as a minority, and a violent one at that.
This kind of distortion of facts about Taiwan by Chinese reporters posted here is not an isolated case — it is part of a long-term strategy. Even since Taiwan first allowed Chinese media to post reporters in Taiwan, their reports have invariably taken a greater-China standpoint, painting a distorted picture of the country and completely disregarding Taiwan’s greatest achievements in realizing the core values of democracy, freedom and human rights. The suggestion that Chinese reporters might be attacked if they rented their own apartments and offices is clearly just another attempt to vilify Taiwan.
Why do we say that Chinese reporters posted here denigrate Taiwan’s democracy? The answer is plain and simple: Since these Chinese journalists are based in Taiwan, they must be perfectly aware that it is a free country with a pluralistic society in which each and every person is at liberty to express his or her political beliefs. The Constitution protects people’s personal security from repression by those in power or attacks by people holding different political opinions. The expression of differing views is well established as the norm in Taiwan. Just as politicians have their own beliefs and ideas, so do different media outlets have different political leanings. Appearing on radio and television chat shows, politicians and commentators cross swords over the airwaves. It really is a case of letting “a hundred flowers bloom and a hundred schools of thought contend.”
Even though debate may be fierce and comments incisive, it is rare for anyone to be attacked physically just because of their opinions or ideology. Taiwanese people are traditionally kind and tolerant and do not normally resort to violence against those who have a different point of view. Living and working as they do in this land of freedom, Chinese journalists must be well aware of how strikingly this situation contrasts with China’s dictatorship. What justification can they possibly have, then, for the spurious suggestion that they fear attacks by supporters of Taiwanese or Tibetan independence?
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