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Government eases rules on stationing of Chinese reporters

The government yesterday decided to lift the ban that prevented two of China’s official media groups, the People’s Daily and Xinhua news agency, from stationing reporters in the country.

The period of stay granted to reporters with Chinese news outlets will be extended from a maximum of 30 days to three months, the same as the period China grants to Taiwanese reporters.

“We revoked the regulation to show our goodwill and to realize President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) policy regarding the normalization of cross-strait press exchanges,” Government Information Office Minister Vanessa Shih (史亞萍) said yesterday.

The former Democratic Progressive Party government (DPP) in April 2005 asked reporters of the two agencies to leave the country, saying “The two media outlets only air opinions from the extreme side of Taiwan’s political spectrum.”

Then Mainland Affairs Council chairman Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said that the “biased reporting” on Taiwan’s reaction to China’s “Anti-Secession” Law, which authorizes China to use non-peaceful means against Taiwan, by the two media outlets “distorted the facts.”

Despite the ban, journalists from the two news organizations were still permitted to visit the country, but were not granted the maximum one-month stay.

The former DPP government announced limited access to Chinese news outlets in 2001, allowing Xinhua, the People’s Daily, China Central Television (CCTV), China National Radio and China News Service, all nationwide outlets, to send their reporters to Taiwan.

Shih said that the government would further open the country to reporters from five Chinese local media outlets, following the policy of the former DPP government, which in June 2005 welcomed two Chinese local media organizations.

Beijing allowed Taiwan media organizations to station reporters in China in 1993.
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