President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday called on the Taiwanese media to act more discreetly when covering elections, citing the American media's coverage of the US presidential election as an example.
Chen made the remarks while receiving members of the Ketagalan Academy (
The president said he has been scrutinizing the vote-counting process and results in the US election.
"While I comprehend the intensity of the election, [this intensity] is sometimes produced by the media, as each media outlet has its own preferences and expectations," Chen said.
He said that, in the US as well as in Taiwan, electoral confusion and turmoil were sometimes the result of the media's coverage.
For example, Chen said, some US media outlets covering the 2000 US presidential election had jumped the gun by reporting that presidential candidate Al Gore had won, only to later revise their reports to announce that George W. Bush had been elected.
He said a similar scenario was played out in Taiwan during the March presidential election, when some media outlets exaggerated their exit poll figures.
"It leads one to wonder whether there would be less electoral disputes were it not for the factor of the media in the process," Chen said.
Chen said that "this time around, the US media outlets were mindful of the lesson learned [from the previous US election] and therefore took precautions against acting in haste."
"This is a sign of improvement from which Taiwanese media should learn," he said.
Chen also responded to remarks Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (
Lien accused Chen of committing fraud during the March 20 election and said that a person who committed such an act "deserved be killed by everyone."
"What kind of democratic manner is that, to accuse the president of imposture before the court has even delivered its verdict?" Chen said.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) put Taiwan in danger, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday, hours after the de facto US embassy said that Beijing had misinterpreted World War II-era documents to isolate Taiwan. The AIT’s comments harmed the Republic of China’s (ROC) national interests and contradicted a part of the “six assurances” stipulating that the US would not change its official position on Taiwan’s sovereignty, Hsiao said. The “six assurances,” which were given by then-US president Ronald Reagan to Taiwan in 1982, say that Washington would not set a date for ending arm sales to Taiwan, consult
A Taiwanese academic yesterday said that Chinese Ambassador to Denmark Wang Xuefeng (王雪峰) disrespected Denmark and Japan when he earlier this year allegedly asked Japan’s embassy to make Taiwan’s representatives leave an event in Copenhagen. The Danish-language Berlingske on Sunday reported the incident in an article with the headline “The emperor’s birthday ended in drama in Copenhagen: More conflict may be on the way between Denmark and China.” It said that on Feb. 26, the Japanese embassy in Denmark held an event for Japanese Emperor Naruhito’s birthday, with about 200 guests in attendance, including representatives from Taiwan. After addressing the Japanese hosts, Wang
RSS