Under attack from opposition parties accusing the government of trying to curb press freedoms, Government Information Office Director-General Arthur Iap (
"I will not step down from my post," Iap told reporters in response to calls from opposition lawmakers' for him to resign.
"I fully respect the freedom of the press and this is in line with President Chen Shui-bian's (
Iap said he had no comment when asked about lawmakers' criticism of him, but added that he might take legal action against those who insult him by resorting to personal attacks.
Iap's comments came one day after Premier Yu Shyi-kun sus-pended the GIO's plan for a civilian organization to evaluate and report on the content of some mainstream newspapers and detail the circulation and financial resources of the print media.
KMT and PFP politicians have condemned the plan, saying the DPP wants to manipulate and control the country's media. They described the policy as a new "white terror."
The Cabinet has said that the GIO's study plan was created with good intentions and to meet public demand. The GIO has said that the public has complained about the qualities of both stories and reporting and urged the government to establish a mechanism to improve the situation.
Iap told reporters that since the Publishing Law (出版法) was abolished in January 1999, the government has had no legal basis to monitor pornographic advertisements, comic books or inaccurate news coverage in the print media.
"The problem is getting worse, and therefore we have been prompted to study the possibility of drafting a mass communication management law (大眾傳播管理法), or regulations for managing and assisting the publishing industries and publications (出版事業及出版品輔導管理辦法)," Iap said.
He said such rules would protect people's basic rights.
"There is a long way to go before we can turn the idea into a law," he said. "And the GIO will not propose any concrete act or bill if the public does not reach a consensus on it."
Iap also said that the study has not drawn conclusions and left adequate room for further discussion.
Meanwhile, the premier expressed support for Iap yesterday while he made an inspection tour of local infrastructure projects in central Taiwan. Yu said Iap did not deserve any blame because the GIO has done nothing wrong.
"The GIO's policy is well-intended," Yu said. "Some people have just misunderstood the real meaning of the policy."
"The reason we decided to suspend some of the GIO's mea-sures has nothing to do with rumors that the president was angered by them, nor did Iap do something wrong," he said. "We simply wanted to calm the public's anxiety."
Yu reiterated the three points he made in the legislature on Tuesday when discussing the GIO's plan.
First, the plan is a government-authorized study, not an evaluating mechanism, he said, and second, the government will not conduct any evaluation of the print media. Third, he said, the evaluation of the electronic media is being conducted in accordance with the law.
"To cope with Taiwan's entry into the World Trade Organization, the government has to launch a media industry research project, which was the impetus for the GIO's plan," Yu said.
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