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Yu says DPP will boycott `China Times'

Dissatisfied with the coverage by a Chinese-language newspaper, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Yu Shyi-kun announced yesterday that the party would boycott the paper and refuse it access to party officials.

Yu had filed a defamation lawsuit against the China Times after the daily claimed that Yu used the pejorative term "Chinese pigs" to refer to anti-President-Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) protesters in a front page story on Sept. 25.

The paper later acknowledged the accusations contained in its article were groundless and offered an apology to Yu, but he did not withdraw the lawsuit and appeared in court yesterday.

"We will not verify any news about the DPP from the China Times. I hope that the public will go read other newspapers if they want to know about the DPP," Yu said in front of the Taipei District Prosecutor's Office.

Yu also lashed out at the paper's editor-in-chief, Wang Chien-chuang (王健壯), for making the paper less objective and turning it into a "Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] mouthpiece."

`Unfriendly'

"The China Times has been unfriendly to the DPP, and is turning itself into the newspaper of KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九)," he said.

As long as Wang is editor-in-chief, Yu said, the DPP will not take any questions from China Times reporters, and will no longer issue press releases to the paper.

The China Times story accused Yu of making provocative remarks, and also claimed that his remarks had raised "ethnic tension" and generated criticism from party members.

In response to Yu's remarks, about 20 reporters who cover the DPP beat later issued a written statement criticizing Yu for inhibiting the media's ability to perform their role.

"Refusing coverage to a particular media outlet violates the rights of DPP beat reporters and also the rights of China Times readers," the statement said.

Citing the DPP's party platform, which stated that newspapers, TV and radio stations should not be controlled by political parties, and that the independence of their staff should be protected, the statement urged Yu to reverse his decision.

"Every media outlet should enjoy the equal right to cover the DPP, regardless of its political stance. We demand that the party abide by its platform and oppose the decision," the statement said.

In an official statement issued late last night, the China Times said that the comments would be regarded as slander.

"Yu's comments were against the DPP's spirit of freedom, and oppressed opposing voices inside the party as well as voices from the press," the statement said.

Damaging

"DPP members with differing voices will be regarded as traitors. Critical media outlets will be regarded as pro-China media. This actually damages the DPP's image," the statement said

The China Times also said "Yu does not have the authority to stand alone and make the DPP's policies."

"Yu does not have the authority to refuse any media [access] without an endorsement from the DPP's Central Standing Committee," the statement said. "Also, since Yu does not represent the entire DPP, those who care about the future of the party should be strict and correct Yu's improper behavior or statements, because what he has done harms the party."

In addition to the statement by the China Times, the Association of Taiwan Journalists also issued a statement blasting Yu.

The association said "public faces do not have the right to refuse access or interviews from the press, because they deserve criticism and supervision by the press."

The statement said that "these interviewees certainly have the right to request a correction or an apology if the press misunderstands their words and misleads the public with news coverage, but that does not include declining access to the press."

Additional reporting by Jimmy Chuang
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