News outlets should maintain the fourth estate’s integrity instead of becoming political propaganda agencies or tools for personal power, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said yesterday after reporters asked him about comments Want Want China Times Group chairman Tsai Eng-meng made (蔡衍明) on Saturday.
Tsai called out Ko in an article published on Saturday in the Chinese-language China Times, five days after the relationship between the two men became the subject of intense media interest.
It began on Monday last week, when Ko said in a TV interview that Want Want China Times used to support him, but had distanced itself from him because he was not very “obedient” in making remarks they wanted him to say.
Photo: CNA
“The stuff that poured out of Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu’s (韓國瑜) mouth was what Want Want China Times had initially wanted him to say,” Ko added.
Asked by the show host whether he meant Want Want China Times was telling Han what to say, Ko said that news media can have their stances, but they should not go too far and become propaganda tools.
For the rest of the week, reporters repeatedly asked Ko what Want Want China Times had wanted him to say.
In a magazine interview published on Wednesday, Ko said Han was supported by the Want Want China Times, and that the company receives instructions from China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO).
Ko on Friday told reporters that Tsai had wanted him to support the “colorless wake up, 10 proposals” (無色覺醒十大主張) initiated by Want Want China Times in August last year.
The idea was based on reason and practicality, and were aimed at providing an action plan for Taiwan to break through the political struggle between the pan-blue and pan-green camps, as well as the deadlock in cross-strait relations, the company said at the time.
The 10 proposals include acknowledging that “Taiwanese are Chinese,” helping Taiwanese understand the Chinese Communist Party and for Chinese people to understand the needs of the Taiwanese, discussing a unification process and model that both sides of the Taiwan Strait can accept, supporting Chinese direct investment in Taiwan and supporting the death penalty.
In an article published in the Chinese-language China Times on Saturday, Tsai urged the Taipei mayor to clarify just when and in what situation Tsai had asked him to promote the 10 proposals.
He personally identifies with the idea that “Taiwanese are Chinese,” Tsai wrote.
He believes that only when cross-strait relations are good and peaceful can Taiwan become better, so his actions come from a “loving Taiwan” standpoint, Tsai added.
“You [Ko] and I have met more than 10 times, do you not understand my true aspirations and real love for Taiwan?” Tsai wrote.
Ko should be open and honest, and tell the public about his relations with Tsai and the TAO, the tycoon added.
Ko told reporters that he had not read Tsai’s whole article.
“However, the media should maintain the integrity of the ‘fourth estate,’ and not become a tool for expressing personal power,” he said.
If China Times founder Yu Chi-chung (余紀忠) knew what his newspaper had become, he would surely cry bitter tears, the mayor added.
‘LONE WOLF’: The suspect was difficult to locate, as he did not use a cellphone, did not contact family and often lived in abandoned sites or parks, police said Taipei police on Thursday morning arrested a man accused of numerous burglaries and at least 14 incidents of sexual assault spanning more than 20 years, in what might be the nation’s most notorious crime spree in recent years. Sixty-year-old Tu Ming-lang (涂明朗) — who was yesterday placed in judicial detention, after a judge determined he was a flight risk without a fixed address — faces multiple charges of sexual assault and burglary, police said. A task force comprised of various law enforcement agencies arrested Tu as part of an investigation into an April 28 burglary in Daan District (大安), in which a
The majority of parents surveyed in northern Taiwan favor the suspension of all on-site classes at schools from the junior-high level and below amid a surge in domestic COVID-19 infections, parent groups said yesterday. About 84.4 percent of respondents in a survey of 2,912 parents in northern Taiwan, where the outbreak is the most serious, said they supported suspending classes, the Action Alliance on Basic Education, the Taiwan Parents Protect Women and Children Association, and the Taiwan Love Children Association said. The groups distributed questionnaires to parents in New Taipei City, Taipei, Keelung, Taoyuan and Hsinchu city and county from Saturday morning
ASEAN BATTLEGROUND: Japan and Australia could be drawn into Pacific tensions as China sets its sights on the Diaoyutai Islands and further beyond the first island chain Tensions between China and the US in the Indo-Pacific region are expected to intensify, the National Security Bureau and Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, recommending that Taiwan continue to emphasize its shared values and interests to encourage resistance to Chinese aggression. US commitments in the Indo-Pacific region are expected to continue unabated despite the war in Ukraine, as Beijing takes advantage of the conflict to expand its influence in the region, the agencies said in reports delivered to the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Sunday, ahead of a hearing yesterday on regional developments and trends. Although Russia’s invasion of
ONLINE REPORT: Confirmed cases filling out the online contact tracing report can check a box to indicate that a close contact had received a booster dose, an official said The guidelines for diagnosing COVID-19 have been revised to include people aged 65 or older who test positive with a rapid test that is confirmed by a healthcare worker, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday, as it reported 65,794 new local infections. The CECC had first announced the change on Monday, before publishing the new guidelines. Starting today, people aged 65 or older, regardless of whether they are undergoing home quarantine, home isolation or self-disease prevention, can be classified as a confirmed COVID-19 case by a healthcare professional, based on a positive result from an antigen rapid test, said