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Presidential election 2008: 17 days to go: Euro News cancels plans for Taiwan poll correspondent

Euro News, a pan-European TV news channel, has called off plans to send its Brussels correspondent to Taiwan to cover the presidential election after local newspaper reports were deemed an "insult" to the station's independence, the Government Information Office (GIO) said yesterday.

"It's a pity that we lost such a great opportunity for Taiwan to get coverage, as Euro News broadcasts in 27 EU countries," said Patrick Wang (王振臺), director of the information division at the GIO's branch in Brussels.

Wang made the remarks in a telephone interview with the Taipei Times yesterday after the office was informed on Feb. 26 of the cancelation of a planned trip by Euro News correspondent Sergio Cantone.

Cantone pulled out of the trip after the Chinese-language China Times reported on Feb. 22 that the GIO was covering the cost of his trip and had prepared "tough" interview questions for him to ask Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), Wang said.

The report cited unnamed sources from Ma's camp.

"Cantone told us that the Ma camp had insulted the independence of Euro News, saying he always maintained independence and prepared his own questions when interviewing important people," Wang said.

Euro News dropped plans to issue a press release rebutting the China Times report as it had wanted to keep the matter out of the spotlight during his visit, but eventually decided to cancel the trip, Wang said.

Talking to the Taipei Times in a telephone interview, Cantone downplayed the issue, saying the main reason for the cancelation was that he was tied up covering Kosovo's independence and couldn't make it to cover Taiwan's presidential election as it was taking place at the same time as this year's European summit.

"I had discussed [a Taiwan trip] with Euro News. But as we have other things to do here, Euro News will pick up coverage of Taiwan's presidential election from news agencies," he said.

In other news, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday said that more than 200 foreign dignitaries have agreed to come to Taiwan to observe the upcoming election.

MOFA spokeswoman Phoebe Yeh (葉非比) said that as has been customary, the ministry will invite foreign dignitaries to come to Taiwan to observe the March 22 election and witness the country's democratic development.

So far, more than 200 have committed, and the actual number could be higher as the ministry is still extending invitations, Yeh said.

"The response to the invitations has been more enthusiastic than it was four years ago," she said. Yeh said the foreign dignitaries are mainly parliamentarians, former political figures and think tank academics from the EU, the US and Japan.

Additional reporting by CNA
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