The Taiwan Society said yesterday that it supported Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Yu Shyi-kun's recent announcement to give the Chinese-language China Times the cold shoulder by denying it access to DPP figures.
Aside from the Taiwan Society, other groups lending support to Yu's decision include the Taiwan Northern Society, the Taiwan Southern Society, the Taiwan Eastern Society and the Taiwan Bugle Society -- all known for their pro-Taiwan independence stance.
Before Yu's announcement, these groups had months earlier already denied the newspaper interviews and refused to read or subscribe to it.
The secretary-general of the Taiwan Society, Chet Yang (楊文嘉), said the newspaper's reports on the groups had usually "deviated from the truth" and "lacked balanced coverage."
The situation had worsened "especially after Wang Chien-chuang (王健壯) became the editor-in-chief," Yang added.
The Taiwan Society urged the public to join Yu in denying interviews to the China Times.
Yu announced the boycott decision last Thursday after he appeared in court for a defamation lawsuit against the newspaper for a front-page story on Sep. 25, which said Yu referred to anti-President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) supporters as "Chinese pigs."
Although the newspaper later acknowledged the allegation was groundless, Yu did not withdraw the lawsuit but criticized the paper as "becoming a mouthpiece of the Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT]," blasting Wang's political stance in particular.
The party issued a statement late on Thursday night saying that Yu was trying to defend freedom of the press rather than threaten reporters' livelihoods.
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.
Yang yesterday said as much as he respects the China Times reporters' rights to work, he did not think these rights should be overemphasized.
"Their work rights cannot take priority over and exclude other public values," he said. "For example, they should not exploit their rights to creating false news."
In a public statement last Friday, the Taiwan Society criticized the newspaper as a "media trust" which "fabricates news" and "sows discord."
It said Yu, as a public figure, was not refusing to be interviewed by other media, and was not trying to avoid media supervision.
The China Times should initiate a review of the quality of its own reports instead of blaming others the Taiwan Society said.
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Instead of focusing solely on the threat of a full-scale military invasion, the US and its allies must prepare for a potential Chinese “quarantine” of Taiwan enforced through customs inspections, Stanford University Hoover fellow Eyck Freymann said in a Foreign Affairs article published on Wednesday. China could use various “gray zone” tactics in “reconfiguring the regional and ultimately the global economic order without a war,” said Freymann, who is also a nonresident research fellow at the US Naval War College. China might seize control of Taiwan’s links to the outside world by requiring all flights and ships entering or leaving Taiwan
The next minimum wage hike is expected to exceed NT$30,000, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday during an award ceremony honoring “model workers,” including migrant workers, at the Presidential Office ahead of Workers’ Day today. Lai said he wished to thank the awardees on behalf of the nation and extend his most sincere respect for their hard work, on which Taiwan’s prosperity has been built. Lai specifically thanked 10 migrant workers selected for the award, saying that although they left their home countries to further their own goals, their efforts have benefited Taiwan as well. The nation’s industrial sector and small businesses lay
Quarantine awareness posters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport have gone viral for their use of wordplay. Issued by the airport branch of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency, the posters feature sniffer dogs making a range of facial expressions, paired with advisory messages built around homophones. “We update the messages for holidays and campaign needs, periodically refreshing materials to attract people’s attention,” quarantine officials said. “The aim is to use the dogs’ appeal to draw focus to quarantine regulations.” A Japanese traveler visiting Taiwan has posted a photo on X of a poster showing a quarantine dog with a
RSS