Minister of the Interior Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) yesterday promised greater media freedoms and safety during upcoming high-level cross-strait talks, saying law enforcement officers would not strike reporters this time.
Saying police officers would not “easily use police force,” Jiang said they would not strike reporters again, referring to an incident in which a Formosa TV reporter was struck by police during China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Chairman Chen Yunlin’s (陳雲林) visit to Taipei last November to meet his Taiwanese counterpart, Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤).
Jiang, however, stunned the audience when he said the TV footage he saw showing the assault on the reporter might have been edited and that the truth of the matter was unknown.
He later said he had misspoken and that the police were indeed at fault in the matter. Former minister of the interior Liao Liou-yi (廖了以) apologized to the public at the time and visited the reporter in hospital.
“I promise reporters will enjoy more press freedom and safety this time around,” he said, adding that the ministry would establish a task force to handle security for the forthcoming Chiang-Chen meeting.
Jiang made the remarks during the question-and-answer session at the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee meeting yesterday.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator William Lai (賴清德) criticized the administration for contributing to the country’s sliding press freedom, saying it had regressed since President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) took office last year.
Taiwan’s press freedom ranking dropped 23 spots in the latest report issued by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on Tuesday, lagging behind that of Hong Kong.
On public security in general, Jiang yesterday said that there was much room for improvement, but he admitted that he had not yet made a concrete plan to address the problem. He promised to hammer out a plan by the end of this year and no later than early next year.
Jiang also agreed to seriously consider the possibility of asking Ma to chair a national public security meeting and designate color codes for communities around the nation so dangerous areas could be easily identified.
Emphasizing that two-thirds of all prison inmates were imprisoned for drug-related crimes, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) urged Jiang to ask Ma to call a public security meeting.
Citing a recent opinion poll, KMT Legislator Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) said a majority of people were dissatisfied with the government’s efforts to improve public security.
She proposed following the UK practice of highlighting dangerous communities in colors. She also urged Jiang to consider increasing law enforcement officers’ salaries to prevent corruption or cover-ups.
While Lai criticized Jiang for being clueless about the recent killing of a man by a taxi driver, Jiang said it was difficult for him to be on top of every violent crime, but he was determined to address the problem.
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