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Media sides with Chen after interview: GIO

President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) video conference with the UN Correspondents Association drew more international media attention than expected because of the pressure from China, Government Information Office (GIO) director-general Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday.

Lin made the remarks after the teleconference, which was originally scheduled to take place at the headquarters of the UN in New York Sept. 15 but had to be relocated to a nearby venue under Beijing's pressure.

Lin noted that CNN aired Chen's words in making the case for Taiwan's UN bid in its "Diplomatic License" program, in which he said that shutting Taiwan out of the UN is to subject the Taiwan people to "political apartheid" and that Taiwan's bid for membership in the world body does not seek to challenge the People's Republic of China's UN seat.

In the past, international media used to focus on Taiwan's suffering a setback for its UN bid after the UN Steering Committee rejected the proposal by Taiwan's allies to put the issue on the UN General Assembly agenda for consideration or else would simply ignore the news altogether.

This year, however, Taiwan used the print media and outdoor billboards to highlight its UN bid. In addition, Chen is a popularly elected president representing the collective will of the 23 million people, giving him the status of the voice of Taiwan. This is why this year's series of activities to promote Taiwan's bid culminated with his teleconference, Lin said.

The international reports, he said, had a positive effect in highlighting the sovereign status of the island, promoting Taiwan's UN bid and underscoring the relentless squeezing of Taiwan by China. The GIO has so far learned that the international media has made 39 reports on the president's teleconference, including 12 reports in North America, 13 reports in Europe, 11 in Asia and the Pacific and three in Central and South America. Lin said that CNN aired the remarks by Chen in the video conference and the GIO's ads on Taiwan's UN bid.
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