CtiTV yesterday apologized for what it described as a “negligent” translation of its interview with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) professor Noam Chomsky about the ongoing controversy over the movement against media monopolization in Taiwan.
The interview, conducted last week by CtiTV Washington bureau chief John Zang (臧國華), came in the wake of a series of articles in the Chinese-language China Times — part of the Want Want China Times Group (旺旺中時集團) — alleging that Taiwanese graduate student Lin Ting-an (林庭安) had deceived Chomsky by failing to explain the slogan on a placard the professor was photographed holding that denounced “China’s black hands” interfering in local media.
Lin had contacted the 84-year-old Chomsky by e-mail to provide him with background information on the movement and fears of Chinese influence in Taiwanese media before visiting him at MIT. She made the e-mail public last week and said she had explained the situation to Chomsky before the photograph was taken.
Photo: Huang Chen-yi, Taipei Times
As reported by the Taipei Times on Saturday, Chomsky said in an official e-mail response that he did not fully understand the contents of the placard, but denied that he was misled by Lin, blaming the “misunderstanding” on his inability to read Chinese.
In his CtiTV interview with Zang, which was aired on Saturday, Chomsky said he was “misled by my lack of ability to read Chinese,” adding that he could not understand what was on the placard.
“I still don’t know what it says,” he said.
After a narration by Zang, Chomsky then said: “Sometimes it’s a conscious effort to misuse … I found out about such cases so often.”
The comments were not given any context, making it unclear if they were related to the placard, Lin’s approach or any of the sensitive political issues the professor has involved himself with over the decades.
However, Zang tied Chomsky’s remarks firmly to the controversy through a voiceover.
Soon after the interview was aired, people in the movement against media monopolization said that the captions accompanying the segment were also “misleading.”
To prove their point, they then uploaded a video on YouTube with a split screen comparing the translation made by CtiTV on the left-hand side with more accurate captioning on the right.
“Do they think we don’t understand English?” one person said in a Facebook post accompanying a link to the original interview.
In a brief statement on its Web site posted yesterday at about noon, CtiTV apologized for the poor translation of Chomsky’s remarks during the interview and attributed the errors to “negligence.”
It said the segment would be reviewed and improved.
Netizens immediately responded that the apology was inadequate, adding that they strongly doubted the errors were the result of negligent translation, but rather a deliberate attempt to mislead viewers.
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off Yilan at 11:05pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter was located at sea, about 32.3km east of Yilan County Hall, at a depth of 72.8km, CWA data showed There were no immediate reports of damage. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Yilan County area on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. It measured 4 in other parts of eastern, northern and central Taiwan as well as Tainan, and 3 in Kaohsiung and Pingtung County, and 2 in Lienchiang and Penghu counties and 1
FOREIGN INTERFERENCE: Beijing would likely intensify public opinion warfare in next year’s local elections to prevent Lai from getting re-elected, the ‘Yomiuri Shimbun’ said Internal documents from a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company indicated that China has been using the technology to intervene in foreign elections, including propaganda targeting Taiwan’s local elections next year and presidential elections in 2028, a Japanese newspaper reported yesterday. The Institute of National Security of Vanderbilt University obtained nearly 400 pages of documents from GoLaxy, a company with ties to the Chinese government, and found evidence that it had apparently deployed sophisticated, AI-driven propaganda campaigns in Hong Kong and Taiwan to shape public opinion, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported. GoLaxy provides insights, situation analysis and public opinion-shaping technology by conducting network surveillance
‘POLITICAL GAME’: DPP lawmakers said the motion would not meet the legislative threshold needed, and accused the KMT and the TPP of trivializing the Constitution The Legislative Yuan yesterday approved a motion to initiate impeachment proceedings against President William Lai (賴清德), saying he had undermined Taiwan’s constitutional order and democracy. The motion was approved 61-50 by lawmakers from the main opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the smaller Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), who together hold a legislative majority. Under the motion, a roll call vote for impeachment would be held on May 19 next year, after various hearings are held and Lai is given the chance to defend himself. The move came after Lai on Monday last week did not promulgate an amendment passed by the legislature that
AFTERMATH: The Taipei City Government said it received 39 minor incident reports including gas leaks, water leaks and outages, and a damaged traffic signal A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off Taiwan’s northeastern coast late on Saturday, producing only two major aftershocks as of yesterday noon, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The limited aftershocks contrast with last year’s major earthquake in Hualien County, as Saturday’s earthquake occurred at a greater depth in a subduction zone. Saturday’s earthquake struck at 11:05pm, with its hypocenter about 32.3km east of Yilan County Hall, at a depth of 72.8km. Shaking was felt in 17 administrative regions north of Tainan and in eastern Taiwan, reaching intensity level 4 on Taiwan’s seven-tier seismic scale, the CWA said. In Hualien, the
RSS