In the wake of recent allegations that a Taipei deputy mayor suppressed press freedom by threatening the media, a survey released by a Taipei City councilor yesterday showed that more than 66 percent of journalists have experienced or heard of the city government's discrimination against reporters.
The survey conducted on Wednesday collected answers from 42 reporters covering the city government beat. It explored the relationship between the Taipei City Government and the media, after an article in the latest issue of Eyewitness magazine said that Taipei Deputy Mayor King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) had asked a reporter from the Liberty Times (the sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) to "be careful" in her reporting, because he had the cellphone number of her paper's editors-in-chief.
According to the survey, 66 percent of respondents thought the city government was discriminatory in its treatment of the media, and 78 percent said they had been "treated by city officials with poor manners" or knew colleagues who had been.
More than 64 percent of respondents said they had received phone calls from officials, or were asked to meet them to talk about their stories.
"More than 85 percent of reporters said they think those phone calls or meetings were a suppression of press freedom, and this, I think explains the tension between the city government and the media," People First Party City Councilor Dai Hsi-chin (戴錫欽) said yesterday during a question and answer session at the Taipei City Council.
Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said it is not necessarily suppression of press freedom for city government staff to be concerned about media reports.
"If the media reports are incorrect or biased, there is nothing wrong with our staff expressing their concerns," Ma said at the council meeting.
The city government received an average score of 64.88 percent for its interaction with the media.
When asked about the rating, the mayor said the relationship between the government at any level and the media should never be harmonious.
"It is the media's responsibility to find fault with the government, and so I think it is normal that there is tension between the two," he said.
King admitted yesterday that he had called media executives to express concern over the content of some articles, and that he lost his temper when trying to "communicate with the reporter."
"But she didn't include the reason for my anger in her article ... And although I called the editor to express my concerns, I called after the report came out and I did not interfere with the news report," he said.
King declined to comment further on the issue, but emphasized that he always "patiently communicates" with reporters before making a call, and that he would be happy to discuss the issue with the reporter and the magazine in a panel discussion.
Ma said the city will review the survey results and continue to communicate with reporters.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from