The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday it will temporarily ban China's Xinhua News Agency and the People's Daily from sending journalists to Taiwan because the two media outlets only air opinions from the "extreme sides of Taiwan's political spectrum."
Council Chairman Joseph Wu (
The two official Chinese media outlets' coverage on Taiwan news "has not helped China understand Taiwanese society at all," he said.
The council's original aim of permitting Chinese journalists to come to Taiwan was to promote mutual understanding between China and Taiwan, Wu explained.
However, the unbalanced reports written by the journalists from Xinhua and the People's Daily on political affairs in Taiwan have not helped the Chinese public know more about Taiwan, according to Wu.
"Xinhua and the People's Daily are state-controlled media. Their coverage on Taiwan has been very unhelpful, extreme and negative over the years ... Their reports did not truthfully reflect the voice of the people of Taiwan," Wu said. The official stressed the move was not a setback for press freedom.
The journalists from Xinhua and the People's Daily collaborated with China's agenda of political propaganda and their reports often "distorted the truth," said a statement released by the MAC.
"Apparently, these journalists have lost the neutral stance their profession requires. They intend to mislead the Chinese public and they worsen misunderstandings between Taiwan and China," read the statement.
MAC spokesman You Ying-lung (
Wu told reporters in Wulai that some media outlets in China are controlled by the state, but other unofficial outlets aren't.
"We do not exclude the possibility of allowing [unofficial] news agencies to send reporters to Taiwan," Wu said.
Noting the government will not completely ban Chinese reporters from coming to Taiwan, Wu nevertheless pledged to "carefully evaluate" cross-strait cultural exchanges to ensure that they increase mutual understanding between Taiwan and China.
Commenting on the MAC's decision, Vice President Annette Lu (
"But it is not too late to take the step now," added Lu, who called the decision a move to defend Taiwan's national security.
Beijing strictly blocks all Taiwanese news Web sites so that people in China have no access to Taiwan's local news coverage -- restricting the Chinese' public's knowledge of Taiwan.
Apart from Xinhua and the People's Daily, three Chinese media outlets, including CCTV, the China News Agency and China National Radio, also have reporters in Taiwan. Each of them is allowed to send two reporters to Taiwan. The news agencies rotate their reporters in Taiwan each month.
The government first permitted Chinese media to send reporters to Taiwan in August 2000. A MAC official said the council has communicated with Xinhua and the People's Daily journalists regarding their reports.
also see story:
Opposition slams MAC's ban on Chinese reporters
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
COUNTERINTELLIGENCE TRAINING: The ministry said 87.5 percent of the apprehended Chinese agents were reported by service members they tried to lure into becoming spies Taiwanese organized crime, illegal money lenders, temples and civic groups are complicit in Beijing’s infiltration of the armed forces, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said in a report yesterday. Retired service members who had been turned to Beijing’s cause mainly relied on those channels to infiltrate the Taiwanese military, according to the report to be submitted to lawmakers ahead of tomorrow’s hearing on Chinese espionage in the military. Chinese intelligence typically used blackmail, Internet-based communications, bribery or debts to loan sharks to leverage active service personnel to do its bidding, it said. China’s main goals are to collect intelligence, and develop a
RSS