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The Liberty Times
Editorial: ‘Southern Weekly’ encourages ‘Fury’
The Southern Weekly protests caught the attention of the world. The dispute over
the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) party-state system’s hold on press freedom is
now seen as a major political challenge and a test of the sincerity behind CCP
General Secretary and Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) promises of
reform.
What will happen in the aftermath of the demonstrations will depend on
Zhongnanhai, and it is an issue that the international community is paying close
attention to.
Taiwan, which finds itself in an area most directly affected by China’s rise,
will be more affected than many other countries.
The Southern Weekly incident offers Taiwan’s government and public a fresh
opportunity to gain an understanding of whether the same weaknesses, differing
in degree only, are present in Taiwanese freedoms, media policies and media
environment, and whether we need to take stronger action to protect these
values.
The Southern Weekly incident began when the weekly newspaper planned to run a
New Year’s message voicing its dream of better constitutional governance in
response to a speech by Xi in which he stated that the Chinese constitution must
be implemented for the nation to survive and to become authoritative.
However, the article was not approved by the Guangdong provincial propaganda
department, and after some heavy editing, became an uncontroversial piece in
praise of China.
This triggered a backlash among the editorial staff, who are known for being
critical of government policy and for exposing irregularities. They signed a
statement demanding the resignation of Guangdong provincial propaganda chief Tuo
Zhen (庹震). Chinese intellectuals, writers and artists also spoke up.
Amidst the uproar, an unverified “urgent statement” from the CCP propaganda
department appeared, stating that “hostile foreign forces” had interfered in the
incident and saying that “party control of the media is an unshakable
fundamental principle.”
Since both CCP propaganda chief Liu Yunshan (劉雲山) and Tuo are viewed as
left-wingers, the whole incident has taken on the overtones of a power struggle.
This was followed by rumors of a crackdown on more liberal publications.
The incident highlights one of the innumerable flash points in China. It is a
counterattack against the one-party dictatorship, which has placed itself above
the constitution and the law. The US Department of State has expressed its
concern, and in Taiwan, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) led intellectuals
in protesting against the incident, while the Mainland Affairs Council also
issued a statement.
As for Taiwan’s government, it did what it always does when fundamental values
conflict with relations with China: It remained silent.
This behavior shows how the nation’s head of state lacks strong democratic and
human rights convictions and maybe even harbors a nostalgic longing for the old
party-state system.
This attitude can be seen in the disregard and ambivalence with which the
government has handled the anti-media monopolization demonstrations, and how
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators have handled the issue in the
legislature.
While China grapples with the Southern Weekly issue, Taiwan is faced with a
similar issue in the Next Media Group buyout. Both are but two sides of the same
coin.
If the “urgent statement” from the CCP’s propaganda department turns out to be
true, the accusations about interference by hostile foreign forces is simply a
matter of the CCP, a propaganda specialist, crying thief to cover up its own
behavior.
As a hostile foreign force, China is constantly meddling in Taiwanese affairs
and the Taiwanese media in particular.
Chinese infringement on Taiwanese freedoms include attempts to describe the
Chinese dictatorship as good and powerful, while denigrating Taiwanese democracy
and independence, creating a perception of what is politically correct that is
suitable to Taiwan’s current government, destroying the media’s position as the
fourth estate and turning reporters into tools for persecuting people of
differing opinions, promoting media owners’ political and commercial interests
and eliminating media diversity to deprive the public of their right to express
an opinion.
Some of these infringements are already having an effect and the unscrupulous
use of the media as a private tool has become a component in Taiwan’s
destruction. And all this is happening on President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) watch.
On Sunday, the DPP staged its “Fury” anti-government rally, with calls against
media monopolization one of the main issues. The Southern Weekly incident lent
the demonstration even more urgency.
Taiwanese have worked hard for so many years to create what they have today:
Will Taiwan now be brought down to China’s level?
If Ma and the KMT continue to refuse to provide an answer, Taiwanese should all
use their civil rights and take to the streets and demand an answer.
Translated by Perry Svensson
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