President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) seems to be playing favorites with local media, again. This time, to promote the meeting between China’s Association on Relations across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) and Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤).
Ma irritated many reporters back in March when, of the 38 local media outlets, only four print media reporters were chosen to ask questions during his first press conference following his presidential election victory, while only 10 TV reporters found favor with Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦).
The four media outlets were the Chinese-language China Times, China Times online, The Journalist and China Review News.
This time around, media outlets were again handpicked by Ma during his promotion of the Chiang-Chen meeting.
On Oct. 24, Ma gave an interview to the state-run Central News Agency (CNA). The second interview was given to TVBS on Oct. 29 and the third with ETTV on Oct. 31. Yesterday, he gave three separate interviews to the China Times, United Daily News and the Apple Daily. The Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) was not on the list.
Ma had originally declined all interview requests by the media. At the time, Wang said it was because Ma met the press corps on a regular basis and it would be unfair to all other local media outlets if any interview was given at all.
Ma has met the local press corps only twice since he took office in May.
When asked by the Taipei Times if and when local English-language media outlets would have a chance to interview the president, Wang said “when there is proper issue to discuss.”
He also said the readers of Taipei Times were “only the foreigners in Taiwan.”
Association of Taiwan Journalists chairman Leon Chuang (莊豐嘉) said that although it was understandable that politicians use the media to serve their own interests, it deprives the media of their right to report if interviews are being handed out selectively.
Taking Ma’s interview with the CNA on Oct. 24 as an example, Chuang said it was an overt attempt to use the state-run agency to preempt the demonstration organized the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and other pro-localization groups the following day.
“Saying the president has regular meetings with the local media is just an excuse to reject the media’s requests for interviews,” Chuang said.
Ma began changing his tactics and gave interviews to selected local media after he realized that he and his administration had to counter the opposition’s negative view on the imminent meeting between the cross-strait negotiators, Chuang said.
In order to do that, Chuang said, Ma picked media outlets that his administration believed were not only friendly, but also influential.
“It is hard to criticize him really, because he has limited time and energy,” Chuang said.
Chuang, however, emphasized that it seemed that Ma has totally alienated the local English-language media, which he suspects Ma thinks are unimportant or unnecessary.
“What it comes down to is his attitude and sincerity,” Chuang said. “Does he care at all about the foreigners in Taiwan, who are a minority and don’t have the right to vote.”
Media Watch chairman Kuang Chung-shiang (管中祥) urged Ma to treat both Chinese-language and the local English-language media equally.
“It is necessary for him to explain how he selects which outlets get interviews,” he said. “Or the public will think that he only picks those media who are friendly to him.”
Kuang added, however, that it was true all around the world that politicians show favoritism to certain media for the sake of serving their own interests.
“It is understandable, but it is not right,” he said. “It is something that is not normal in a democratic society.”
Although Ma may meet the local press corps on a regular basis, Kuang said that was not enough because the media’s responsibility is to scrutinize the performance of the government.
“As he is the president of the Republic of China [ROC], he should be examined by the ROC’s media,” Kuang said.
Kuang said it would be interesting to see whether Ma would give interviews to pro-localization media outlets, such as the Liberty Times, SETTV and Formosa TV.
“If he is smart, he should give interviews to other media outlets who have different views from his own,” Kuang said.
Hung Chen-ling (洪貞玲), a journalism professor at National Taiwan University, agreed that Ma should hold more regular press conferences and meetings with the media so that he can offer a clear account of the government’s polices.
Hung, however, noted that the former DPP administration did not fair much better. It was all very well for the Presidential Office to say it wants to treat the media fairly, she said, but that must apply to Chinese and English-language media.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as