Two correspondents from China's Xinhua News Agency -- Fan Liqing
"I hope we can also exert our influence to help boost and improve cross-strait relations," Fan said upon arrival at CKS International Airport last night, adding that the pair's main responsibilities were to provide more news on Taiwanese affairs to their Chinese readers.
PHOTO: TONY YAO, TAIPEI TIMES
Speaking in Hokkien, Fan, who was born in Chinese-controlled Fujian Province, said she had no problem conducting interviews with Taiwanese people in terms of cultural proximity and that they would both do their best to cover as much news as possible during their stay in Taiwan.
Fan is the deputy director of the Xinhua's Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau desk and has been to Taiwan three times before. The last time she visited Taiwan was when she accompanied Li Yafei
When asked why their trip -- originally scheduled for late December -- had been delayed for almost two months, Fan said that misunderstandings about application procedures and their preparations for the trip were the reasons.
The deputy director of Taiwan's Government Information Office (GIO), Lee Cher-jean
"And with that, they will be free to attend any press conferences they want in Taipei just like all Taiwanese reporters do," Lee said.
Lee, however, citing regula-tions, added that both Fan and Chen would only be allowed to cover news in the metropolitan Taipei area.
If they want to conduct interviews in other areas or cover news about top-ranking government officials, applications would have to be filed on a case-by-case basis, Lee said.
Fan said yesterday that she and Chen had no plans to go outside Taipei to conduct interviews.
"But, if there is any news worth covering [in central and southern Taiwan], we will [file applications and] request permission to go," she added.
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) yesterday also said that both reporters would be welcome to cover its routine press conferences held on Tuesdays.
"Like any government agency, the MND will offer the same services to Chinese reporters as those offered to their local and foreign counterparts," a ministry official said, adding that all regular MND news conference would be open to the Xinhua reporters.
The ministry, moreover, said that all relevant government agencies had worked out principles for handling news coverage applications by them.
Nevertheless, the MND official said that Chinese reporters would not be allowed to visit military facilities since China had not yet opened its military installations for visits or news coverage by Tai-wanese reporters.
"We have to maintain this ban in line with the principle of parity," he added.
Expressing her excitement, Fan yesterday said that their trip had been intensively reported in China and she was looking forward to seeing Taiwan and Chinese news organizations allowed to branch out on either side of the Taiwan Strait in the near future.
In addition to the Xinhua News Agency, Chinese authorities have also agreed to allow several of its central-level media organizations, including the People's Daily, to post journalists in Taiwan.
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