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GIO remains silent
about China’s tightening media
By J. Michael Cole and Shih Hsiu-chuan / Staff Reporters
The Government Information Office (GIO) yesterday refused to comment on reports
showing a tightening of media controls in China and said it would maintain its
plan to further open Taiwan to Chinese journalists.
Chinese social media were abuzz over the weekend after remarks by the new head
of China Central Television (CCTV), who said that the first job of a journalist
was to serve as a “mouthpiece” for the state, were leaked on the Internet.
Hu Zhanfan (胡占凡), who took the reins at CCTV last month, said journalists who
believed they were independent professionals rather than “propaganda workers”
were making a “fundamental mistake.”
Although Hu had made the comments at a special forum on “fake news” in January,
they quickly spread after they were posted on a Chinese microblogging site over
the weekend. Angered by signs that the media environment was failing to
liberalize, some Chinese Internet users likened Hu to Nazi propagandist Joseph
Goebbels.
By yesterday, the posting had attracted more than 10,000 responses, though most
were quickly removed by censors.
The Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) announced last month
that Hu, a former vice minister of the State Administration of Radio, Film and
Television, the regulator for some of the largest media industries in China, had
been appointed president of CCTV. Hu is also a former editor of the Guangming
Daily, a newspaper published by the CCP’s Central Propaganda Department.
Meanwhile, developments in Hong Kong prompted the Wall Street Journal to write
on Sunday that smear campaigns launched by pro-Beijing media were “plumbing new
depths of defamation.”
At issue was a campaign by Hong Kong media accusing pro-democracy politicians of
being “stooges of foreign powers” as the territory holds district council
elections and prepares for the selection of the 1,200 elites who will choose the
territory’s next chief executive later this month.
Publications controlled by Chinese interests have accused Jimmy Lai (黎智英),
founder of Apple Daily, of acting as a conduit for foreign money and influence
to “unpatriotic” elements and “traitors” within the pro-democracy camp. The head
of the local Catholic Church, Cardinal Joseph Zen (陳日君), has also faced similar
accusations for his support of the democratic camp.
Eastweek magazine, which is owned by a member of the Standing Committee of the
Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, claimed Lai did not have the
resources to make the US$5.4 million in donations he is said to have made over
seven years and alleged that the funds came from the US government, the Journal
said.
Lai denies the allegations and is suing the magazine for libel.
The China Daily, Ta Kung Pao and Hong Kong Commercial Daily have made similar
allegations, while the South China Morning Post — the only non-state controlled
media among them — ran an opinion piece by a member of the Standing Committee of
the National People’s Congress accusing Zen of funding underground churches in
China and treason.
While refusing to comment on the developments, Chang Hui-chun (張惠君), a senior
editor at the Department of Planning, the section in charge of cross-strait
media exchanges at the GIO, said the government would proceed with plans to open
the country to more Chinese journalists.
“I fail to see why [the Chinese government] has adopted those policies, but I
can’t really comment on that because [China] has a different system than what we
have in Taiwan, where people fully enjoy freedom of speech,” Chang said.
The GIO encourages cross-strait exchanges between personnel of various media
outlets, motion picture corporations and publishing companies in the field of
journalism and culture, she said.
Last year, the number of visits by Chinese media professionals to co-produce TV
series, movies or books or to cover feature stories was between 4,000 and 5,000,
up from about 1,000 in 2008, Chang said.
The government not only leaves the door open to promote cross-strait media and
cultural exchanges, but has also eased restrictions on Chinese journalists
stationed in Taiwan by allowing 10 Chinese media outlets to each deploy five
reporters, up from three media outlets with each having a maximum three
reporters in 2008, she said.
“With the exchanges increasing, we believe people from both sides can have more
understanding of the other side,” Chang said.
There were some “limitations” on reports by Chinese journalists stationed in
Taiwan, she said.
“For example, a journalist said he did not know that Taiwanese could travel to
124 countries or regions without visas until he came to Taiwan, but he couldn’t
write a story on this,” she said.
Despite the limitations, some have written stories about their experiences in
Taiwan, such as people waiting for garbage trucks rather than throwing garbage
on the ground anytime, she said.
In September, a delegation of about 20 representatives from 10 major media
organizations in China, including Xinhua, the People’s Daily, the Economic Daily
News, China National Radio, China Radio International and CCTV visited Taiwan,
during which calls were made for closer media cooperation across the Taiwan
Strait. State Council Information Office Deputy Director Wang Guoqing (王國慶) and
Central Committee Propaganda Department Information Bureau Deputy Secretary
Zhang Ye (張燁) were part of the group. This was the third visit by a Chinese
media delegation since March 2009.
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