20051124

President defends press freedom

MEDIA RIGHTS: Receiving a delegation of journalists, Chen Shui-bian said that Taiwan's press is as free as most democratic countries and that this should be respected at the UN

By Chiu Yu-Tzu

STAFF REPORTER

President Chen Shui-bian yesterday reaffirmed the government's determination to defend the freedom of the press, urging the UN to respect the right of Taiwanese journalists to cover international conferences.

Chen made the remarks while receiving representatives of the Association of European Journalists (AEJ) yesterday at the Presidential Office, he added that his administration has defended the freedom of the press for years and that much progress had been seen.

Citing the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders' (RSF) Worldwide Press Freedom Index released last month, Taiwan ranked 51st among the 167 countries surveyed. In the same survey last year, Taiwan was ranked in 60th place.

Chen said that the RSF survey indicates that the degree of press freedom in Taiwan is quite close to that in the democratic countries of Europe. Meanwhile, because China's government continues to deliberately detain journalists, it was ranked 159th. In other words, press freedom in China is the ninth worst in the world.

"We won't remain content with the situation. The government will keep promoting press freedom, which ensures journalists have a good environment in which they are free to work," Chen said.

Chen said that it is unfortunate the international environment remains unfriendly to Taiwanese journalists because of the country's diplomatic plight.

"We do hope the UN will respect the universal values it stresses, including that of press freedom. It has to respect the rights of Taiwanese journalists, who should be allowed to cover news at international conferences [hosted by UN affiliates]," Chen said.

In May, the UN Office in Geneva refused to accredit the Taiwanese journalists who wanted to cover the World Health Assembly's (WHA) annual meeting.

And just last year, two Taiwanese reporters holding passports from UN member states were accredited in Geneva for the WHA proceedings. All journalists holding Taiwanese passports were denied accreditation.

The UN's refusals have been criticized by several international human-rights groups, which have urged the UN not to damage press freedom. Taiwanese reporters should enjoy the same rights as their press counterparts around the world.

The delegation is headed by Peter Kramer, secretary-general of the AEJ, and he is accompanied by Austrian, Belgian, British, Czech and French colleagues. Chen reminded the AEJ delegates of Taiwan's capabilities in disease control and prevention, stressing that Taiwan is qualified to contribute to the world on global health issues as an observer in the WHO.

Chen added that foreign journalists had to be fully aware of the potential threats posed to Asia by China, a country that remains non-democratic.

Be wary of Chinese tourists

Now that somewhat-direct Lunar New Year charter flights have been approved by Taiwan and China, the next "meat and potatoes" issue that must be dealt with in cross-strait relations is whether to allow large numbers of Chinese tourists into Taiwan.

American Institute in Taiwan Director Douglas Paal alluded to this in his speech to the annual general meeting of the American Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday: "We are encouraged by signs of progress toward cross-strait charter flights and the further opening of Taiwan to tourists from [China]. These measures promise important economic benefits for both sides."

Experts from the tourism industry feel that they will benefit greatly by having hordes of Chinese tourists swarming through Taroko Gorge and scuttling around Yangmingshan. And maybe they will. But surely the more important issue to be addressed is whether this influx of tourists will benefit Taiwan's continued survival as a de facto independent nation.

It may be that having erstwhile communists enjoy a little capitalism and freewheeling democracy will be a positive thing -- surely it can not hurt to temporarily remove them from their imposed shell of state control. A few hours watching cable news coverage, perusing local newspapers, or arguing politics with a taxi driver will do more to shape a person's opinion of Taiwan than years of programming by Xinhua.

However, regardless of a person's views toward China, whether one supports unification or independence, any Taiwanese who has traveled to China knows that, for all of the "shared language and culture," the two countries could hardly be more different. After all, one is a developed, freedom-loving democracy, and the other is, well, not.

Even the most die-hard unificationist, when traveling abroad, takes care to let people know that they are from Taiwan, not China. Even taishang, Taiwanese businesspeople operating in the "mainland," mostly live in enclaves, isolated from their counterparts on the other side of the Taiwan Strait.

It isn't that Taiwanese have a problem with China or their Chinese heritage necessarily. It's just that the modern histories of the two countries have diverged so dramatically that people on either side really have little understanding of the other society.

However, this does not mean that the two sides have nothing to gain from interacting; indeed, in many ways both countries are becoming more and more interdependent.

Therefore, Chinese tourists should be welcomed. It is unlikely that the possible threat of Fifth Columnists will greatly affect the security of this country, which after all, is already within striking range of hundreds of Chinese missiles and aircraft.

But it will not be easy to deal with the large influx of Chinese. There are cultural issues to which Taiwan should be sensitive.

For this reason, and in the spirit of cross-strait reconciliation, there are a number of phrases which should not be employed when speaking to tourists from China. Failure to not say these things will only exacerbate the mutual misunderstanding and cultural rift that exists between the two countries.

Therefore, do not -- under any circumstances -- say any of the following 10 phrases to Chinese tourists: One, noodles, paper, gunpowder. What have you done for us lately? Two, one-child policy plus patriarchal society equals no women. Three, 5,000 years of civilization, and all you have to offer us is pandas? Four, welcome to Taiwan. Please don't spit. Five, Simplified characters for simple people. Six, Mr. Hu, tear down that wall! Seven, our opposition leaders get to have dinner with your president, but your opposition leaders get shot. Eight, our Chinese culture is better than yours. Nine, my dad owns the factory your dad works in. Or finally: We were going to "retake the mainland," until we went there.

Thus, we can maintain cross-strait harmony.

As a recent visitor to Taiwan, may I be so bold as to make a few observations. To begin, I was greatly impressed with what I saw as a thriving and robust country you have for a homeland. The pride you have in your country is obvious and evident by the sparkling cleanliness of your towns and cities. Our hosts and everyone we encountered were warm, welcoming and gracious. We enjoyed our stay tremendously and feel a family-like kinship toward the Taiwanese people.

Having said that, I am at a loss to understand China's attitude toward Taiwan. China stands to gain far more from an independent, sovereign and friendly Taiwan than a subservient, repressed province. The potential for gain by both countries is only limited by the imagination which both have in abundant supply.

As a friendly ally, Taiwan could free China from a concern to defend her southern coastline and at no cost to China. It would also be in China's interest if it intends to become a power broker in Asian affairs to have Taiwan occupying a friendly seat in the UN. Taiwan, with a powerhouse economy, would be a plus as not only a local market, but a conduit for international business interests considering Taiwan's less intrusive government involvement. Besides all of this, China has no legitimate claim on Taiwan since Taiwan has never been a part of the People's Republic of China.

Another issue that I am sure is sensitive and may have become divisive, is that perhaps it is time to retire the identity of the Republic of China and accept the present reality of the "Democratic Republic of Taiwan." This certainly doesn't mean discarding your heritage as Chinese. Taiwan will always have a cultural and historical kinship with China as we in the US have with the UK.

Your bond is perhaps the stronger since the US is a great melting pot, having received its citizens from most of the countries in the world.

The US stood with China in its great struggle against Japan and shares many things with the Chinese people. We have a long history that was made rich by the Chinese contribution in many aspects of the US' development. The previous governor of Washington state is Chinese-American. Chinese blood courses through the veins of millions of American citizens, adding immensely to the US' greatness.

The ideal would be for China and the world to recognize Taiwan's sovereignty and for China to quit its efforts at intimidation. Taiwan and China should be peaceful neighbors and enjoy each other as allies. Each has so much to offer the other in a sovereign relationship, and nothing can be gained by pursuing the present tension.

What I think would be an appropriate effort would be a growing grassroots movement to herald the benefits of sovereignty for both countries. Instead of the negative, you could trumpet the positive, and I do believe a vigorous international public relations effort by your celebrities would catch the world's attention.

Freedom is on the move around the world and you all deserve your seat at the table.

`Politicians may not understand that they destroy young people's belief in politics when they respond to a baseless accusation with a joke. If the young stop believing in politicians, politics will stagnate.'

At the beginning of the city mayor and county commissioner election campaigns, the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) candidate for Taipei County commissioner, Luo Wen-chia, and some other DPP members launched a "new DPP movement." But the movement faltered and faded.

When the movement was proposed, people both inside and outside the DPP viewed it as a power struggle among different generations of party members. Those who proposed it were the so-called "new generation," who are aged around 40. In the party's power structure, they are topped by the defense lawyers in the 1979 Kaohsiung Incident who are now in their 50s and the party's core leaders.

Can those in their 40s be called the new generation? Hsu Ching-yuan was elected Taitung County commissioner when he was 34, former DPP chairman Hsu Hsin-liang was elected Taoyuan County commissioner in 1977 when he was 36, and Chen Ding-nan, who is running again for Ilan County commissioner, was 38 when he was first elected to that post 24 years ago. In addition, both party officials and party workers from this new generation are waiting to be promoted to the next level.

Those expected to succeed President Chen Shui-bian all belong to the older generation, so those in the new generation will have to campaign for those in that generation in the 2008 presidential election. If the DPP can win the election, those in the new generation will be faced with an extended cycle for the transfer of political power to their generation, but at least there will be a stable path to follow.

If the DPP suffers a major defeat in next month's elections, it may repeat the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) collapse in the late 1990s and lose the next legislative and presidential elections. If that occurs, not only the older generation but also the new generation may quickly be replaced by even younger members.

To save their political careers, those in the new generation have to seize this chance to become local government heads, which would allow them -- just like Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou, Taoyuan County Commissioner Chu Li-lun and Taichung Mayor Jason Hu of the KMT, who all have the comfort of being a local government leader -- to be offensive when things go better or defensive if things go worse. Otherwise, there will be even less political room for them in the next few years.

From the perspective of generational transition of power, the new generation's anxiety is easily understood. To resolve this anxiety, they need to find a support base in society and respond to calls for reform. Unfortunately, the overall structure seems to make them unable to comprehend and respond to the needs of voters both in their own generation and those who are younger.

The DPP has always been proud of its ability to appeal to young voters. But this time, the party has only sought to secure its voter base in the south by pushing for a subsidy for retired farmers. It has failed to come up with something new to attract young voters.

In 1993, Luo and Ma Yung-cheng, who were then 27 and 28-years-old respectively, served as managers for Chen Shui-bian's mayoral campaign. They created a campaign suitable to the demands of the young.

Luo, then the youngest campaign manager in the nation, said: "Zhou Enlai was already the director of the political department at the Whampoa Military Academy at the age of 26." However, it seems the new generation of 12 years ago no longer is as confident it once was.

The young who experienced the Taipei mayoral campaign that year should feel fortunate that they were once "happy voters." Whether they supported Chen or his opponent, they were happy to freely express their political affinities.

A college professor recently lamented that, "It is tragic to see today's students feeling empty inside, for they have no role models to follow and no obvious social injustices to fight."

Reminiscing about his time as a student in the 1980s and the student movements he experienced, he went on, "We were much more fortunate, for our ideals were clear and forthright."

Young people's indifference to politics is caused by the overall environment. Besides, they no longer live in the economically prosperous Taiwan of a dozen years ago, nor do they have any political leaders able to appeal to people with their ideals and calls for justice.

The political squabbles and exposes of corrupt practices in the media creates doubts among voters. This makes it impossible for young people to establish a complete set of values and beliefs.

Politicians may not understand that they destroy young people's belief in politics when they respond to a baseless accusation with a joke. If the young stop believing in politicians, politics will stagnate.

If the DPP stops being progressive and the young are becoming indifferent to politics, then the nation's politics will plunge into real crisis.