Cabinet spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) yesterday defended President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) in response to comments from Beijing and quotes used by the Associated Press (AP) and CNN.
The bickering began after Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing (
On Tuesday, during this year's session of the National People's Congress in Beijing, Li criticized remarks Chen made on Sunday about Taiwan's status and cross-strait relations.
He described Chen as a "local official" and said Chen was "a person to be condemned by history."
"Such a comment is proof that a rude official from a rude country would naturally come up with such a rude remark," Cheng said during a press conference after yesterday morning's Cabinet meeting.
In a headline on Tuesday, CNN quoted an insult China had used to describe Lu. Although the article -- about Lu's bid for the presidency -- was provided by the AP, CNN placed the description of Lu as "scum of the earth" in the headline with quotation marks.
In response, Lu lodged complaints yesterday against AP and CNN for what she called defamation.
Calling the AP report "inexplicable," Lu criticized AP for sending a Chinese reporter based in Hong Kong to cover her announcement of her decision to run in the presidential primary.
Lu said the reporter had used remarks made in Beijing when she became vice president in 2000 with the goal of humiliating the nation's democratically elected leaders.
"The remarks are crude and nearly insane," she said.
Lu described the article as "false, biased and arrogant" and said that the reporter only "wrote Beijing's perspective" and "violated the basic principles of professional journalism."
Lu asked the public to support her and stand up for the nation's dignity.
"It is not about me. It is about the whole nation," she said. "It will be a serious problem if this matter is not dealt with appropriately because there will be more reports about Taiwan written from Beijing's perspective."
Cheng said that AP had responded by saying that its reporter was quoting the Chinese government's description of Lu and that CNN had then chosen to put the quote in its headline.
Cheng called reporters from AP and editors at CNN absurd and rude.
"These two companies are well-known and professional media," he said. "I would have thought that such rude phrasing only comes from reporters who have connections with China, have stayed in China for a long time or have no knowledge or background information about Taiwan," Cheng said.
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