Despite President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) denial in a letter to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the international press freedom watchdog is concerned that the independence of the nation’s media is threatened and has urged the Ma government to refrain from manipulating the media.
“Taiwan should be a press freedom model in Asia and the independence of the public media is one of the key components of a free and diverse press system,” the group said in a statement released on Wednesday. “We want to believe in President Ma’s promises, but they must be translated into action.”
RSF was responding to a letter that Ma wrote to its secretary-general, Jean-Francois Julliard.
In October, Julliard condemned the Ma administration for attempting to control the media by calling reporters to ask them to rewrite news stories and then appointing party supporters to management positions at state-owned media outlets.
Radio Taiwan International (RTI) chairman Cheng Yu (鄭優) offered his resignation on Oct. 1 in protest against interference by the Government Information Office (GIO).
Later, the Central News Agency’s (CNA) deputy editor-in-chief Chuang Feng-chia (莊豐嘉) resigned. In an open letter issued on Oct. 8, Chuang said the agency’s reporters were being asked by CNA chairman Chen Shen-ching (陳申青) to withdraw reports critical of Ma and his administration.
Ma rebutted the accusations in a letter to Julliard.
“We believe that accusations of this administration’s interference in Taiwan’s media are based on some wrong information or misunderstandings,” Ma wrote in the letter.
Ma went on to say in the letter that the government “will never attempt to control or interfere in the activities in the media” and added the government “is fully aware of the indispensable role that freedom of the press has played in the consolidation of our democracy.”
However, recent disputes at Public Television System (PTS) have again raised concerns on the independence of the publicly owned media in Taiwan.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislative caucus, with endorsement of caucus whip Lin Yi-shih (林益世), proposed a case-by-case review of PTS program budgets by the GIO and froze half of the PTS budget for next year.
The chairman and 10 other senior members of the Public Television Service Foundation — which oversees the PTS, Hakka Television, Indigenous Television and China Television Service — issued a statement last week condemning the KMT for attempting to control the media and called for their independence to be guaranteed.
RSF supported their view.
“Regardless of the political party debate, the media should have a favorable legislative and political environment,” the statement said. “We urge the president to order a probe into the various accusations of meddling and to set up mechanisms that guarantee media independence.”
The Presidential Office denied the accusations.
Presidential Office public relations director Eddy Tsai (蔡仲禮) told the Taipei Times via telephone that since TBS, RTI and CNA are partially funded by the government, “it’s reasonable for the Legislative Yuan to monitor their budgets — but never the actual program content.”
He said that Cheng had expressed his wish to resign as RTI chairman when Ma took office in May because of their different political ideologies, “but his resignation was not officially approved until the RTI board of directors officially met in October.”
Tsai confirmed that the GIO did contact state-owned media organizations, and that the GIO did so because it had received complaints or suggestions from the public.
“The GIO merely passed on the information to the media outlets and the media outlets actually found some of the suggestions useful,” he said.
Also See: Ma must clarify his role: group
DEFENSE: The first set of three NASAMS that were previously purchased is expected to be delivered by the end of this year and deployed near the capital, sources said Taiwan plans to procure 28 more sets of M-142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), as well as nine additional sets of National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS), military sources said yesterday. Taiwan had previously purchased 29 HIMARS launchers from the US and received the first 11 last year. Once the planned purchases are completed and delivered, Taiwan would have 57 sets of HIMARS. The army has also increased the number of MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) purchased from 64 to 84, the sources added. Each HIMARS launch pod can carry six Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, capable of
GET TO SAFETY: Authorities were scrambling to evacuate nearly 700 people in Hualien County to prepare for overflow from a natural dam formed by a previous typhoon Typhoon Podul yesterday intensified and accelerated as it neared Taiwan, with the impact expected to be felt overnight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, while the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration announced that schools and government offices in most areas of southern and eastern Taiwan would be closed today. The affected regions are Tainan, Kaohsiung and Chiayi City, and Yunlin, Chiayi, Pingtung, Hualien and Taitung counties, as well as the outlying Penghu County. As of 10pm last night, the storm was about 370km east-southeast of Taitung County, moving west-northwest at 27kph, CWA data showed. With a radius of 120km, Podul is carrying maximum sustained
Tropical Storm Podul strengthened into a typhoon at 8pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with a sea warning to be issued late last night or early this morning. As of 8pm, the typhoon was 1,020km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving west at 23kph. The storm carried maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts reaching 155kph, the CWA said. Based on the tropical storm’s trajectory, a land warning could be issued any time from midday today, it added. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said Podul is a fast-moving storm that is forecast to bring its heaviest rainfall and strongest
TRAJECTORY: The severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday, and would influence the nation to varying degrees, a forecaster said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it would likely issue a sea warning for Tropical Storm Podul tomorrow morning and a land warning that evening at the earliest. CWA forecaster Lin Ting-yi (林定宜) said the severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving west at 21kph and packing sustained winds of 108kph and gusts of up to 136.8kph, the CWA said. Lin said that the tropical storm was about 1,710km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, with two possible trajectories over the next one
RSS