The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday accused the international media and local English-language media, including the Taipei Times, of succumbing to pressure from President Chen Shui-bian's (
The accusations came at a news conference called by the caucus to address the issue of press freedom.
"Speaking from my own long-term reading experience, the reason that the international community knows so little about Taiwan is because they obtain their information from the three local English-language newspapers," KMT Legislator Su Chi (蘇起) said. "As far as I know, the Chen administration controls at least two of them."
Su singled out the Taipei Times, saying that it is the main source of information about Taiwan for Western governments, think tanks and media outlets.
`Inconsistent' reports
However, he said, some Taipei Times reports are "inconsistent with the actual situation," supplying the international community with knowledge about Taiwan that "deviates from the facts."
Citing one example, Su said the Taipei Times failed to cover the news of the arrest of Tu Shi-san (
Tu, whose real name is Huang Jen-ho (
Su also accused the Taipei Times of failing to run "extensive coverage" on the KRTC scandal as well as the controversy surrounding Taiwan High-Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) until the president came out to offer an apology.
When confronted by the Taipei Times reporter at the legislature, Su first said that his "impression" about the Tu case was that the paper did not run the story.
He later said he was willing to withdraw his remarks if he has made a mistake in his allegations.
`You can quote me'
The Taipei Times reporter pointed out to Su that the paper has been reporting on the KRTC scandal since day one and there was even a full-page special report about the controversy in Monday's paper.
Su then criticized the paper for having a "clearly pro-green" tinge and that he feels sorry about its overt political stance.
"Everybody, including the US government, knows it for a fact that your paper runs stories putting the pan-green parties in a good light and runs very little or even unfriendly stories about the pan-blues," he said. "You can quote me on this or use it as a headline. I'm not afraid."
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip William Lai (
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
SILICON VALLEY HUB: The office would showcase Taiwan’s strengths in semiconductors and artificial intelligence, and help Taiwanese start-ups connect with global opportunities Taiwan has established an office in Palo Alto, one of the principal cities of Silicon Valley in California, aimed at helping Taiwanese technology start-ups gain global visibility, the National Development Council said yesterday. The “Startup Island Taiwan Silicon Valley hub” at No. 299 California Avenue is focused on “supporting start-ups and innovators by providing professional consulting, co-working spaces, and community platforms,” the council said in a post on its Web site. The office is the second overseas start-up hub established by the council, after a similar site was set up in Tokyo in September last year. Representatives from Taiwanese start-ups, local businesses and
‘DETERRENT’: US national security adviser-designate Mike Waltz said that he wants to speed up deliveries of weapons purchased by Taiwan to deter threats from China US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, affirmed his commitment to peace in the Taiwan Strait during his confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday. Hegseth called China “the most comprehensive and serious challenge to US national security” and said that he would aim to limit Beijing’s expansion in the Indo-Pacific region, Voice of America reported. He would also adhere to long-standing policies to prevent miscalculations, Hegseth added. The US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing was the first for a nominee of Trump’s incoming Cabinet, and questions mostly focused on whether he was fit for the
IDENTITY: Compared with other platforms, TikTok’s algorithm pushes a ‘disproportionately high ratio’ of pro-China content, a study has found Young Taiwanese are increasingly consuming Chinese content on TikTok, which is changing their views on identity and making them less resistant toward China, researchers and politicians were cited as saying by foreign media. Asked to suggest the best survival strategy for a small country facing a powerful neighbor, students at National Chia-Yi Girls’ Senior High School said “Taiwan must do everything to avoid provoking China into attacking it,” the Financial Times wrote on Friday. Young Taiwanese between the ages of 20 and 24 in the past were the group who most strongly espoused a Taiwanese identity, but that is no longer
RSS