A business mogul who recently ignited a firestorm of criticism over his remarks about the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests yesterday published an open letter in one of his newspapers saying the public should not doubt his commitment to democracy and freedom of speech.
Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明), chairman of the media conglomerate Want Want Group and the Chinese-language China Times, said he was upset over the recent controversy regarding his statements that the 1989 crackdown in Beijing did not constitute a massacre.
“From the bottom of my heart, I am very sad that the intellectual community has decided to boycott the China Times because of a misleading report that was obviously trying to hurt me,” Tsai said in the letter, published on page two of the China Times.
Tsai was referring to a recent interview with the Washington Post in which he appeared to say that the reports of a “massacre” were false.
According to the Washington Post, in an article written by Pulitzer-prize winning correspondent Andrew Higgins based on an interview he conducted, Tsai said in 1989 he was struck by footage of a lone protester standing in front of a People’s Liberation Army tank, before adding that the man was not killed showed that reports of a massacre were not true.
“I realized that not that many people could really have died,” Tsai was quoted as saying.
His comments sparked strong criticism among academics, journalists and human rights activists in Taiwan, including Wang Dan (王丹), an exiled student leader of the 1989 protests.
In addition, more than 60 local academics and civic group members launched a campaign on Tuesday to boycott the China Times and demanded that Tsai clearly explain his views to the public as promised.
However, in yesterday’s letter, Tsai said he could not keep that promise because the organizers of the campaign had already developed a bias against him.
“The group has prepared certain ‘topics’ for me to answer, which makes it an ‘open trial’ against me personally, instead of a dialogue,” he said. “How can I respond positively?”
In its boycott petition, the group raised a number of questions, including the issue of how media moguls should deal with editorial judgement and freedom of speech.
That question was in reference to one of Tsai’s comments in the Washington Post article that journalists are free to criticize, but they “need to think carefully before they write” and avoid “insults” that cause offense.
Meanwhile, in his open letter, Tsai offered to apologize if anything he said during the interview was disrespectful to the “mainland compatriots who suffered during the Tiananmen incident” or had hurt his Taiwanese compatriots.
“I love Taiwan,” he said. “I have always respected press freedom.”
In response, the civic group said they did not accept Tsai’s explanations because he had once again used one of his media outlets as his mouthpiece.
“May I ask what, or who does the China Times represent?” said Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌), president of the Taipei Society, of which Wang is member.
“The letter only proves that our decision to boycott was the right one,” Huang said. “Tsai’s letter is a well-written article — that’s all.”
The latest issue of the Chinese-language Business Today quoted Higgins as saying that the Washington Post stood by the story, adding that the article did not take Tsai’s comments out of context.
‘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
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
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