Media outlets on both sides of the Taiwan Strait should enhance exchanges and cooperation in an effort to reduce differences, the head of a Chinese media delegation said upon concluding an eight-day visit to Taiwan.
Zhou Xisheng (周錫生), the head of the delegation and vice president of Xinhua news agency, told a farewell dinner on Thursday that the eight-day “exchange tour” was an effort to encourage “frank communication” and in-depth exchanges on the media and the impact of social media on traditional mass communication.
Only by strengthening cross-strait media exchanges can differences be reduced and avoided, the friendship deepened and cooperation expanded, Zhou said, adding that he welcomed colleagues in Taiwanese media to visit China more often and engage in more direct communication and cooperation.
“Whether in the streets all over Taiwan, or a visit to the National Palace Museum … reading newspapers or watching TV, we can deeply feel that the feelings of compatriots on both sides are thicker than water, and feel the Chinese nation’s long and splendid culture,” he said.
Zhou said Taiwanese media had “outstanding qualities” in operation, competition and professionalism, which had left a strong impression on him and his delegates.
The delegation included about 20 representatives from 10 major media organizations in China, including Xinhua, the People’s Daily, the Economic Daily News, China National Radio, China Radio International and China Central Television. State Council Information Office Deputy Director Wang Guoqing (王國慶) and Central Committee Propaganda Department Information Bureau Deputy Secretary Zhang Ye (張燁) also joined the group.
In a speech, Wang emphasized the importance of cross-strait exchanges and said media exchanges should be objective, impartial, comprehensive and accurate to ensure that people on both sides could deepen mutual understanding.
The delegation held meetings with or visited the offices of the Want Want Group, the China Times Group, the United Daily News, China Daily News, the Central News Agency, CTS, TTV and TVBS, among others.
The delegation also visited radio stations in Greater Tainan and Greater Taichung, as well as the Chinese Press Institute.
The visit, the third by a Chinese media delegation, was made at the invitation of the China Times.
The first one was held in March 2009.
The visit occurred amid reports that the top leadership in Beijing is considering “cultural reforms” that analysts say could be aimed at increasing official control over the media and the Internet to shape public opinion.
A meeting chaired by Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) last week called for the “mastering of new trends in cultural development” and an emphasis on “Chinese characteristics” as part of the proposed overhaul, Xinhua reported.
According to the Agence France-Presse (AFP), analysts said the measures would likely tighten Beijing’s grip on newspapers, TV and popular social networking sites.
“All cultural controls have the essential political mission to shape the people’s mind to not directly challenge the party rule, to accept the status quo,” Xiao Qiang (蕭強), an adjunct professor at the school of journalism at University of California at Berkeley, told AFP.
“It highlights their nervousness and their awareness of the increasing challenges to their ability to control the cultural sphere,” said Xiao, who is also the founder and editor in chief of China Digital Times.
The tightening of controls follows a decade during which Beijing encouraged state-owned media to be more competitive and less reliant on state subsidies. As media competed for viewers, previously obedient stations and publications became more critical of the authorities or engaged in “racier” programming.
The Chinese Communist Party has seen this development as undermining its efforts to control public opinion.
There is “this anxiety over the influence of these truly commercially operating media, which have gained a lot of strength in the past decade and have huge audiences,” David Bandurski of the China Media Project at the University of Hong Kong told AFP.
“You really have seen the progressive loss of control by the official media and in recent years they have been trying to re-grab that agenda,” he said.
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
A saleswoman, surnamed Chen (陳), earlier this month was handed an 18-month prison term for embezzling more than 2,000 pairs of shoes while working at a department store in Tainan. The Tainan District Court convicted Chen of embezzlement in a ruling on July 7, sentencing her to prison for illegally profiting NT$7.32 million (US$248,929) at the expense of her employer. Chen was also given the opportunity to reach a financial settlement, but she declined. Chen was responsible for the sales counter of Nike shoes at Tainan’s Shinkong Mitsukoshi Zhongshan branch, where she had been employed since October 2019. She had previously worked
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
TRANSPORT DISRUPTION: More than 100 ferry services were suspended due to rough seas and strong winds, and eight domestic flights were canceled, the ministry said Tropical Storm Wipha intensified slightly yesterday as it passed closest to Taiwan, dumping more than 200mm of rain in Hualien and Taitung counties, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 11am, Wipha was about 210km southwest of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and was moving west-northwest at 27km per hour (kph). The storm carried maximum sustained winds of 101kph and gusts reaching 126kph, with a 150km radius of strong winds, CWA data showed. Wipha’s outer rainbands began sweeping across Taiwan early yesterday, delivering steady rainfall in the east and scattered showers in other regions, forecasters said. More heavy rain was expected, especially in the eastern
RSS