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Ma defends KMT plan to purchase radio time slots

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday defended his party's decision to promote its policies and candidates on the radio, arguing that the move would help to balance coverage in central and southern Taiwan that he said was biased.

"Buying time slots from licensed radio stations is aimed at balancing media coverage and improving my profile in the central and southern media," Ma said yesterday during an interview with Feng Ming radio station in Kaohsiung.

The president of Taiwan Media Watch said on Monday that the KMT's move might violate the law in that it was seeking to pass off ads as regular radio programs.

But Ma said the party was in compliance with the law and was only seeking to counter rumors spread by underground radio stations.

"Underground radio stations claimed that I would cut subsidies to the elderly if elected president and I am annoyed by these rumors," he said.

In response to criticism from his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) counterpart Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) that the KMT was using money gleaned from its stolen assets to pay for propaganda, Ma said the party had acted within the law. He also condemned the DPP for spending public funds on a rally last weekend in support of its proposed referendum on a UN bid.

KMT Secretary-General Wu Den-yih (吳敦義), who announced the party's plan to purchase radio slots, said the move was inspired by a suggestion from a supporter in the US, who wrote a letter to Ma a few months ago.

The supporter suggested that the KMT promote itself by broadcasting in Hoklo (also known as Taiwanese), arguing that many people in southern Taiwan only listen to local radio stations.

In addition to Taiwanese, Wu said the commercials would also be broadcast in Mandarin and Hakka.

Ma's campaign office said they would arrange radio interviews for the presidential candidate to discuss his campaign platforms in Hakka during his visits to Taoyuan, Hsinchu and Miaoli counties.
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