★
US
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
released at 2023-3-20(state.gov/reports/2022-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/taiwan/):
Defamation and public humiliation are criminal
offenses. Reporters faced the threat of legal action under the liberal libel
laws.
★United
Daily
(聯合報 社論)
,
2022-10-28: In
recent years, it's quite common to see internet army attacking public figures,
internet celebrities, or victims' family members for their speeches to question
the government's policy or actions. More and more people feel the
freedom of speech on public issues is less and less.udn.com/news/story/7338/7535201?from=udn-catehotnews_ch2
Pay for online news : 13%; Trust in news overall: 28%; Trust in news I
use: 35%; Trust score in 2017/2018: 31%, score in 2022/2023: 28%.
Due to the intense competition in the media market and the
interventions of owners, trust in news (28%) remains among the lowest in our
survey. In the polarised media landscape, many brands with political colours are
less trusted, whereas business publications tend to have higher levels of trust.
PTS (55%) remains one of the most trusted brands this year, after internal
improvements.
★
RSF, <Reporters
Sans Frontieres>,
France,
2023:
Taiwan's World Press Freedom Index - score 75.54, rank 35.
★China
Times (中國時報, 社論),
2023-4-10: The
DPP (民進黨) raised a large number
of flankers andinternet army
to bully and persecute dissidents,
therefore the chilling effect becomes more serious, and Taiwan's freedom of
speech retreats a lot ! (「數位中介法」捲土重來創造聲勢。長期下來，寒蟬效應益加明顯，台灣的言論自由出現嚴重的倒退)。chinatimes.com/opinion/20230410004586-262101?chdtv
pic. :
No.1 "freedom
of speech in Taiwan"
on Yandex
,2023-10-13, 2023-6-21, 2023-4-2, 2023-2-5
pic. : No1
"free
speech in Taiwan"on
Yandex of Russia
,2023-10-13, 2023-6-21, 2023-4-2, 2023-2-5, 2022-5-29;No.2 "freedom of speech in
Taiwan" at 2022-8-22; No.3 at 2022-8-22
★ US Country Reports on Human
Rights Practices
released at 2022-4-12(state.gov/reports/2021-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/taiwan/):
nCTi
News was forced off the air after the National Communications Commission
declined to renew its broadcast license. Opposition politicians and some
academics and commentators claimed the decision was politically motivated
retaliation for CTi News’ criticism of the ruling party.
nReporters faced online bullying and the threat of legal action,
particularly under the liberal libel laws.These
provisions allow the subjects of unfavorable press coverage to press criminal
and civil charges directly against journalists and media outlets for defamation.
n In May the Supreme Court rejected the appeal of Chia-yu Lee, who was
convicted of inciting individuals to burn the Republic of China flag in 2020
after a lower court initially acquitted him on the grounds that his act was a
form of constitutionally protected speech.
n PRC
reportedly continued to influence Taiwan media outlets through pressure on the
business interests of their parent companies in the PRC. Taiwan journalists
reported difficulty publishing content critical of the PRC.
★ China Times, 2023-10-12: The ruling
party allows no people to suspect the government, otherwise it will send
internet army or flunkeys, or the prosecutions, police, investigation, to
threaten freedom of speech (
不准人民懷疑政府，動輒發動網軍側翼，給批評民進黨的人戴「紅帽子」，用檢警調公權力威脅民眾言論自由，終極目的在打造「一言堂」)
★ China Times, 2023-11-25:
The
government uses national budget to buy the media, uses the National
Communications Council to attack dissidents, and shut down CTI TV (中天電視)
Station. Moreover, the new "National Security Laws" (「國安五法」)
revised in the Legislative Yuan to comprehensively attack political opponents.
All actions are contrary to democracy.
★
RSF, <Reporters
Sans Frontieres>,
France,
2022-5-
3
Taiwan's press freedom situation
has been "impaired" by some "serious problems,".
The political polarization of the media in Taiwan
and the sensational approach that Taiwanese media takes to report certain news
has posed an "obstacle" to the public getting factual and objective information.
RSF had for the past year repeatedly called for Taiwan's government
to take some measures to address these problems, such as providing some serious
funding for public broadcasters without compromising such entities' editorial
independence.So far, nothing really ambitious
has been taken,
only been mostly speaking or supporting some
small-scale initiatives. The working environment for
journalists in Taiwan was "quite toxic" and that such a situation continued to
impact Taiwan's press freedom.
In East Asia, which includes Taiwan, China, South
Korea, North Korea, Japan, and Mongolia, the press freedom situation is "getting
worse" . Taiwangot No.
38 place in Press Freedom Index 2022. brief
focustaiwan.tw/politics/202205030011
rsf.org/en/index
nTaiwan,
Cedric Alviani (
director, Reporters Without Borders)
noted, regularly places among the top Asian countries in RSF's annual Press
Freedom Index—but it's not because the Taiwanese media is so outstanding.”
Instead, he said, it is “because the whole of Asia is run by strongmen, by
dictatorships". n
coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ):
When the (Taiwan) government is in a
position to declare something ‘fake news,’ it just opens the door to
abuse. nRSF:
“In no case can the executive power
take the responsibility to decide what is fake news and what is
legitimate news,” “By finding scapegoats, blaming China, and not solving the problem,
Taiwan is actually letting the gap narrow between itself and China.”
★
Today's persecutions in Taiwan
Law maker (2023-6-2): What an
authoritarian
era
!? (「這是什麼威權時代嗎」)
★news (2023-6-3) : Dr.
Su Hung-dah (蘇宏達), dean of the College of Social Sciences,
National Taiwan University, reveals he was threatened by
National Security Bureau ( state machine ) that "we can watch
your LINE (
the predominant texting on-line app.
in Japan and Taiwan, similar to FB message)
" duringthe review process
to examine major politicians' theses. Eventually, NTU
Evaluation Committee said 林智堅
(Lin Chih-chien),
HsinChu ex-mayor and the ruling party's
candidate for TaoYuan
mayor copied thesis,
and
vice premier鄭文燦
(Cheng
wen-Tsan)
was found
plagiarism, besides, ex-chief of National Security Bureau, an
advisor of both politicians was reported joining the cheating
scandal.
udn.com/news/story/6656/7209585?from=udn_ch2cate6638sub6656_pulldownmenu_v2taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2022/08/10/2003783288
★ Foreign Policy, 2020-1-10 :the
university professor Su Hung-dah said he received a police
notice after posting a video this past November accusing the DPP
of trying to destroy Taiwan’s National Palace Museum, which
contains Chinese artifacts...The KMT
...said the DPP was curtailing
“freedom of speech and freedom of privacy,” while a KMT
spokeswoman referred to reports of citizens being summoned by
police as a “green terror.”
foreignpolicy.com/2020/01/10/taiwan-election-tsai-disinformation-china-war-fake-news-hitting-wrong-targets/
AFP (2011-12-1), Yahoo Singapore (Nov. 30,
2011)
and media in Australia, Ireland, Thailand (Bangkok Post)
etc
reported
National Taiwan
university
professor
Ruey-shiung
Lin (林瑞雄)
claimed magnetic
attacks by Taiwan's intelligence
★Reuters Report 2022
proportion that trusts
most news
most of the time
proportion who
mostly read news
in text
proportion who
think news org.s
in their market
are politically
far apart
proportion who
accessed news
via email in
the last week
★Reuters Report, 2022
weekly reach off line and online
news
TV, radio, print
news
on-line
TVBS News
45
Yahoo News
40
Eastern Broadcasting News
38
ETtoday
38
SanLih E-television News
32
TVBS online
34
Trust in news (27%) has fallen
back after last year’s COVID-19 boost, and remains amongst the lowest in
our multi-market survey. In a deeply polarised media landscape, many
brands are trusted by one group but distrusted by another. Notable
exceptions are business publications CommonWealth and Business Weekly,
which have increased their trust levels, bucking overall trends
Public service television remains the most trusted in our survey,
followed by the economic news media (CommonWealth and Business
Weekly).
The rest of the news brands in the polarised media landscape are trusted
by one group, but distrusted by another.
★ justsecurity.org,
Focus Taiwan, Taipei Times, etc, 2022-5-13:
Invited by Taiwan's government, an international
human rights experts panel conducted a five-day review from
May 9-13 in Taipei of the country's implementation of two United
Nations' human rights-related covenants, namely the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). freedom
of speech and of peaceful protest continues to be unduly restricted.
pic. :
The
website was ranked No.1 by "freedom
of speech in Taiwan"
on Microsoft Bing,2023-10-13, 2023-6-21, 2023-2-5, 2022-8-22, 2022-2-7,2021-8-5, 2021-6-24, 2021-5-9,2021-4-22,
3-18-2021, 1-1-2021, 12-2-2020;
No.2 at 2022-5-29;
No.1 "free speech in Taiwan" on Bing, 2023-6-21
★
Taiwan News, 2023-2-26: Taiwan defense
ministry
announced
that it submitted a revised draft of the “All-out Defense
Mobilization Readiness Act." for
tighter controls over media and communications
(taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4822226).
China Times (中國時報), editorial,
2023-2-27: Taiwan's government rationalizes
the
Mobilization Readiness Act by exaggerating
current status to be
a de facto state of war,
so as to monitor Taiwanese thoughts and press freedom anytime and
anywhere. (chinatimes.com/opinion/20230227002882-262101?chdtv)
United
Daily, 2023-2-26: DPP government will defines "fake information",
not only media, but also institutions of education, research,
industry, and medical all suffer. (udn.com/news/story/11091/6996779?from=udn_ch2cate6643sub11091_pulldownmenu_v2)
★China Times (中國時報), editorial,
2023-2-3: The
ruling party will enhance its strength to criticize the opposition,
anti-Independence, etc, to label the dissident(抹紅)
as pro-China,
"doubt in US' reliability"(疑美)
, Taiwan-betrayal, in the battlefield of
Cognitive
Warfare。
chinatimes.com/opinion/20230203003707-262101?chdtv
PS: Voice of America (2023-1-26) :
According to a recent poll conducted by Taiwan island-based academic institution
Academia Sinica,
doubt in US' reliability
is bubbling within Taiwan society, with 56.6 percent of Taiwan residents finding
the US untrustworthy
★China Times (中國時報), editorial,
2022-12-12:
cti News (中天) is like
the first domino,
then the press freedom kept declining... For living up, the
government's usual practice is to
support the DPP-friendly media
and eliminate those media uncontrolled, If still fails,
they will apply old ploy
─
smearing, tarring with red brush by pan-Green media, flankers and internet
army to destroy its influence on the public... NCC is willing to be
a thug to purge those media...
(因為要繼續掌權吃香喝辣，民進黨政府的一貫作法是扶持「友好」媒體，消滅無法控制的媒體，消滅不了的話，就用綠媒、側翼、網軍進行抹黑或抹紅，以摧毀其對民眾的影響力，NCC甘願成為替當權者整肅異議媒體的打手) chinatimes.com/opinion/20221211002487-262101?chdtv
brief
★China Times (中國時報), editorial,
2022-10-3: From
Presidential Office, to Executive Yuan, Legislative Yuan, Control
Yuan, Judicial systems, ... news media suppose to remain independent
position, which one is not a puppet giving service to politics ?
(從總統府...到作為第四權，應具有獨立地位的新聞媒體，哪一個不是為政治服務的儡傀？在這種情勢下，台灣的民主淪落到什麼地步了？)
chinatimes.com/opinion/20221002004587-262101?chdtv
★United Daily, editorial,
2022-6-5: Since
DPP winning
legislative majority for the first time
in 2016, Taiwan's government kept abusing human rights, including
suppressing freedom of expression, or restricting personal freedom in the name
of national security, the means they took
are no less than the authoritarian period they accused.udn.com/news/story/7338/6364498?from=udn-catehotnews_ch2
★United Daily
(聯合報)
,
2022-10-13: KMT
chair: president Tsai let internet army freely attack all the
people, manipulates freedom of expression, limits freedom of expression...
udn.com/news/story/6656/6682206?from=udn_ch2cate6638sub6656_pulldownmenu_v2
★United Daily,
editorial,
2022-9-30: Mirror TV's
license was revealed to be 'offered' from "the president's will"...
In the past two years, 90+% of the TV news stations have become
'standard equipment' for the Green Camp factions, and joined every
single political struggle. They merely report the good news and
cover the bad news
for the ruling party...
udn.com/news/story/7338/6650934?from=udn-catehotnews_ch2
★
China
Times,
editorial,
2022-9-30: The NCC's media
intervention under the order of the ruling party, such as the
closure of cti TV channel and
移動頻道,
not only undermines the professional autonomy of the media, violates
freedom of speech, but also violates the basic principles of a
democratic country
chinatimes.com/opinion/20220929005148-262101?chdtv
★Focus Taiwan, 2022-8-20:
A NCC's
proposed bill to regulate the content of online platforms has been
shelved, amid heavy criticism from service providers and the public,
who have expressed concerns about the implications for free speech,
privacy and the future of the internet industry. focustaiwan.tw/politics/202208200008
United Daily, 2022-8-22
:
How many percent does our freedom of speech left if the proposed bill「數位中介服務法」put
into practice.udn.com/news/story/11091/6554017?from=udn_ch2cate6643sub11091_pulldownmenu_v2China
Times, 2022-8-22
:
NCC is no longer an independent institution since DPP took office.
chinatimes.com/opinion/20220821002737-262101?chdtv
★
China Times, editorial, 2022-9-29:
The shame of Taiwan's democracy / The majority
of public opinion call for closing the NCC; the Tsai Ing-wen
government's dirty claws closed CTI TV, and gave pass to Mirror TV.
So many pan-green media, TV celebrity, internet army and NCC
fed and raised by the government gradually damage the foundation of
our democracy. brief
chinatimes.com/opinion/20220928005170-262101?chdtv
★
United Daily(聯合報),
2022-5-30, 2022-5-29,
editorial: Taiwan premier Su (蘇貞昌)
reprimands
that a TV celebrity Antony
Kuo (郭彥均)
sharing a message
"Seeing
so many children just past away like that"
(「看到這麼多孩子，就這樣走」)
on his Facebook, Su says the message is a rumor or incorrect
information,
and will call him to account,
investigate and deal with the
issue accordingly
(斥責「不實謠言」，將究責查辦)
. However, according to law-maker's study,
during the CovID Omicron outbreak since
about April 2022, Taiwan's child case-fatality rate (確診死亡率) is 10 times that of
Japan and 8 times that of South Korea, and in Singapore, there's
even no any child was dead for CovID-Omicron - therefore, "
so many children just past away"
is not a rumor
or incorrect information.
The public feel disgusted,
angry and intolerable at the government's reckless suppression of
free speech. How can Taiwan's adm. calls itself
a "government of democracy".
udn.com/news/story/7338/6349957?from=udn-catehotnews_ch2
★
United Daily(聯合報),
2022-5-9,
editorial (udn.com/news/story/7338/6298063?from=udn-catehotnews_ch2)
Taiwan's public media is not the main source of information that the
public can trust. Taiwan has not done a good job in combating false
information, because "fighting against false information does not
mean controlling the media." (「打擊不實資訊，不等於控制媒體」)。Taiwan's
news reports seem to be free, but in recent years, the speech market
has tended to be "Homogeneity"
(單一化);
particularly, the state apparatus controls the media very deeply,
and the government sometimes even takes the lead in falsification. COA (農委會)
is the initiator of the Internet Army, in 2019 DPP election, current
vice president Lai (賴清德)
once urged Tsai Ing-wen's online army to stop attacking him.
At that time, "the president's internet army" had become an open
secret. Nowadays, the government spending public money to support
its own Internet army is what the public feel unhappy.
pic. : No.1 "freedom
of speech in Taiwan"on Yahoo,2023-2-5, 2022-2-7, 2021-8-5, 2021-6-24, 2021-5-9, 2021-4-22,
3-18-2021, 12-2-2020, 11-19-2020;
No.2 "freedom
of speech in Taiwan" at
2022-8-22,
2022-2-7
;The
website was ranked No.1 by "freedom
of expression in Taiwan",
on Yahoo Taiwan, 2022-5-29; The sites group was ranked No.1 by
"Taiwan
freedom of expression" on
Yahoo Taiwan, 2021-6-23, 11-19-2020, 3-29-2019
The htm file in my computer has been attacked by pro. hackers for a long time,
therefore each time I need to modify and upload backup file to hosting in Euro.
Who has the motivation ? In May
2022, I experienced sort of
electromagnetic attacks.
★US
Country Reports on Human
Rights Practices
,
2021-3-30
Censorship or Content Restrictions: Officials in the People’s Republic of China
(PRC) influenced Taiwan media outlets through pressure on the business interests
of their parent companies in the PRC. Taiwan journalists reported difficulty
publishing content critical of the PRC, alleging that PRC authorities had
pressured Taiwan businesses with operations in China to refrain from advertising
with Taiwan media outlets which published such material. To punish Taiwan media
outlets deemed too critical of PRC policies or actions, the PRC would subject
their journalists to heightened scrutiny at Chinese ports of entry or deny them
entry to China. PRC actors also targeted the computers and mobile phones of
Taiwan journalists for cyberattacks.
Opposition politicians and some media outlets criticized these provisions (a new
law criminalized receiving direction or funding from prohibited Chinese sources
to conduct political activities) as overly broad and potentially detrimental to
freedom of expression, including for the press.
Opposition politicians and some academics and commentators claimed NCC’s
decision not to renew the license was politically motivated retaliation for CTi
News’ criticism of the ruling party.
★
RSF, <Reporters
Sans Frontieres>,
France,
2021-4-20 :
2021 World Press Freedom Index - TaiwanNo. 43
Political interference is rare and less tolerated, but Taiwan’s
journalists are suffering from a very polarised media environment
dominated by sensationalism and the pursuit of profit. Although
President Tsai Ing-wen has said she wants to continue developing
press freedom in Taiwan, few concrete measures have been taken to
improve journalists’ editorial independence and encourage media to
raise the quality of the public debate. Beijing is exploiting this
weakness by putting pressure on Taiwanese media owners, who often
have business interests on the mainland. Beijing is also suspected
of orchestrating online disinformation campaigns – a threat that
could lead to questionable retaliatory measures by Taiwan such as
refusing visas to Chinese journalists regarded as hostile
。rsf.org/en/2021-world-press-freedom-index-journalism-vaccine-against-disinformation-blocked-more-130-countries
★
International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, 2021 Global
State of Democracy
(idea.int/gsod/sites/default/files/2021-11/spotlight-on-taiwan-gsod2021.pdf) SPOTLIGHT ON TAIWAN
PANDEMIC AND MEDIA INTEGRIT /
social media, which arguably plays an even more important
role in official messaging than its mainstream media counterparts
pic. :
The
website-group was ranked No.1 by "freedom
of expression in Taiwan"on Microsoft Bing,
2023-2-5, 2022-5-29, 2022-2-7,
2021-8-5, 2021-6-24, 2021-5-9, 2021-4-22,
3-18-2021, 1-1-2021, 12-2-2020;
No.3 at 2022-8-22
No.1 "free expression in Taiwan" on Yahoo, 2021-8-5,
The
website-group was ranked top by "freedom
of expression in Taiwan"on Yahoo search engine,2021-5-9, 2021-4-22, 3-18-2021, 1-1-2021, 12-2-2020;
No.2 at 2022-2-7,2021-6-24
pic. :
The
website was ranked No.1 by "Taiwan freedom
of speech"on Microsoft Bing,2023-2-5, 2022-2-6, 2021-6-23, 12-2-2020, 11-20-2020, 9-5-2020;The
website was ranked No.1 by "Taiwan freedom
of
expression"
on Microsoft Bing, 2022-2-6,2021-6-23, 12-2-2020, 11-20-2020, 9-5-2020
pic. :
The
website was ranked No.1 by "free
expression in Taiwan" on
US Google , 3-11-2020, 7-23-2019; The
website was ranked No.1 by "freedom of
expression in Taiwan"
on
US Google , 3-11-2020
pic.
:
The
website-group was ranked No.1 by "freedom
of expression in Taiwan"on Baidu of China,2021-5-9
★
Global
Times, 2021-3-29
: Taiwan DPP's dark "online army" underbelly in misinformation campaign
/ At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the infamous "online army"
masterminded an attack against the World Health Organization (WHO),
the DPP's "online army" which
manipulated and meddled in an online public opinion field of more than
20 million people on the island. GT
found out that the departments affiliated
to the DPP administration and relevant foundations are the
financial supporters and "base camp" for these online "army" forces. "The DPP can collude
with social media such as PTT, Facebook, print media, electronic media,
and TV programs". globaltimes.cn/page/202103/1219763.shtml
★
South China Morning Post (Hong Kong), 1-3-2021:
Taiwan’s ban on books, TV
shows ‘the work of the thought police’, co-founder of ruling
party says / Former DPP legislator – and one of the party’s founders – Lin Cheng-chieh:
“Banning a children’s book, taking CTi news channel off the air and
[planning to] censor Chinese publications are the work of the
thought police, which was something the KMT did in the past, and I
never expected the Democratic Progressive Party government to do the same thing,“The DPP used to fight for
100 per cent freedom of speech and the news media when it was still
the opposition.
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3116094/taiwans-ban-books-tv-shows-work-thought-police-co-founder
★
Voice of America, 11-26-2020 :
Taiwan Killed a TV News Broadcasting License
Despite Legal Freedom of Speech
because the openly pro-China outlet had aired inaccurate reports (such as
a report that farmers had discarded pomelo fruit in a reservoir ) and ignored
warnings to reform. CTi News broadcasts pro-China material – unpopular
with much of the island’s population – as well as criticism of Taiwan’s ruling
Democratic Progressive Party. Reporters Without Borders (RSF, <Reporters
Sans Frontieres>,
France)
said in a statement that it “regrets” the license revocation because it affects
the CTi News staff. It asked the commission to disclose all evidence that
renewing CTi's license would have endangered the public. The media should
take a government watchdog role but not just put out content that suits in-house
agendas, At the same time, the commission’s move doesn’t violate press freedom.
CTi called the
license revocation “illegal” and cited lack of “due process” as well as “flimsy
reasoning.” The National PolicyFoundation, attributed the decision to
politics. "Although the National Communications Commission will never put
'political censorship' as their main reason to shut down CTi, it's an open
secret to everyone". (brief)
www.voanews.com/press-freedom/why-taiwan-killed-tv-news-broadcasting-license-despite-legal-freedom-speech
★
★Taiwan Shuts Pro-China TV Channel
in Battle over Press Freedom
media
Cti TV side
NCC side
Reuters 11-18-2020
...citing evidence of interference from a
Beijing-friendly tycoon amid fears over China's campaign to win support
on the island.
there was no evidence that CTi
had received Chinese government funding.
and key shareholder Tsai has
previously rejected accusations of newroom
interference.
Taiwan's main opposition party, said it
opposed the decision, as it could have a "chilling effect, strongly
impacting press freedom"
CTi had been fined for several violations
such as failure to check facts and endangering the public interest
Bloomberg 11-18-2020
Taiwan Shuts Pro-China TV Channel
in Battle over Press Freedom
TV station says its closure is politically motivated
the latest example of
the often fraught
relationship between press freedom and concerns over Chinese
influence in Taiwan’s fiercely competitive media landscape. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-11-18/f-16-disappears-off-taiwan-s-eastern-coast-fate-still-unclear
NCC says Chung T’ien News violated broadcast
regulations The key issue is
its largest shareholder Tsai Eng-meng is directly and indirectly
involved in the production of news programs
Guardian, 11-18-2020
“Today is the darkest day for freedom of
the press and freedom of speech in the 30 years since Taiwan’s
liberation,”
CTi has been accused of acting as a mouthpiece for Beijing and lobbying
against the Democratic Progressive party (DPP) government, led by Tsai
Ing-wen, and in favour of the opposition Kuomintang (KMT)
www.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/18/pro-china-tv-station-in-taiwan-ordered-off-air-over-disinformation
Pro-China TV station in Taiwan ordered off
air after Taiwan’s media regulator found it had failed to address
serious and frequent findings of bias and disinformation.
CTi had devoted 70% of its airtime to the KMT mayor of Kaohsiung, Han
Kuo-yu, who unsuccessfully challenged Tsai in the presidential election.
In January, CTi was fined for airing false statements by a KMT
politician without factchecking or interrogating the claims before
broadcast
AFP, Yahoo News Australia,
11-18-2020
Many of the large media outlets are openly
partisan, backing Beijing-friendly politicians or their opponents
"It is completely and utterly
hypocritical for governments to invoke press freedom only when it
fits their agenda," tweeted KMT chairman Johnny Chiang.
It called for NCC to make public all
the evidence it examined and apply the same standards to all future
license reviews regardless of their political orientation.https://au.news.yahoo.com/taiwan-pulls-plug-china-friendly-100647362.html
He has sparked criticism in the past
for being overtly pro-Beijing and imposing his political preferences
on the media outlets he owns.
The NCC accused Tsai of making direct
and indirect interventions in news coverage by CTi.
One example
was a false report that local farmers had to dump massive quantities
of pomelo fruit last year because they were unable to sell their
produce to mainland China as relations soured.
Times of India, 11-18-2020
The channel, which vowed to fight the decision in court, says the government is
seeking to silence those who do not support its policies.
Taiwan's government has repeatedly said China has stepped up
efforts, including a media campaign, to infiltrate and gain influence on
the democratic island
SCMP, 11-18-2020
CTI: The Tsai government has closed CTi;
press freedom is dead!
CTi is seen as pro-China and the decision
marks the first time the regulator has effectively shut
down a television news station It cited evidence
of editorial interference from major shareholder Tsai
Eng-meng
The Straits Times, 11-18-2020
The rejection of CTi cable's request is the first time Taiwan has
shut, even though indirectly, a television news station since the
regulator, the National Communications Commission was set up in
2006.
The decision provoked immediate anger from CTi and Taiwan's main
opposition party, which called it an attack on media freedom.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/taiwan-cti-cable-shut-down-china-tycoon-tsai-eng-meng-13585436
CTi had been fined for several violations such as failure to check facts
and endangering the public interest
Focus on Taiwan, 11-18-2020
at the time of the
hearing that the Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) government was looking to close the
station, effectively threatening Taiwan's media freedom
CTiTV
called the day "the darkest" for the freedom of press and speech
since martial law was lifted over 30 years ago.
In
denying the license renewal based on two reasons -- the number of
complaints that led to fines imposed on the station and the
interference of a major shareholder -- the NCC "ignored the issue of
political manipulation and disregarded communication theory and
practice," CTiTV said.
"Under
the NCC's current standards, every news stations in Taiwan should be
shut down,"
Though CTi News submitted eight measures during the review process to
improve the situation, Chen contended that none of them would have
eliminated the interference of major shareholders in its news.
China Times, editorial 11-19-2020
Freedom of the press is dead! ! !
The ruling authorities ignored the Constitution's guarantees for
freedom of speech. The National Communications Commission (NCC)
betrayed the establishment purpose of the Constitutional Freedom of
Speech stipulated in Article 1 of its Organic Law and decided to
shut down the CTI News Channel. This was a naked, a blatant
political ruling. NCC finished the assignment Taiwan president
Tsai gave.
In the 2018 elections, CTI TV stood on the opposite side of the
ruling party. As a result, the DPP suffered a fiasco, the
authorities grew enmity and decided to revenge CTI.
The reasons NCC claimed for shutting down the CTI are
completely ignorant of media practice and even violate the basic
principles of communication. If the same standards are used,
should all news stations in Taiwan be shut down? The gov, wants to
kill one to scare many, and forces all media to follow the authorities,
otherwise the same would be the case.
United Daily, China Times, Apple Daily, Liberty Times are four major
news in Taiwan.
UDN, editorial, 11-19-2020
NCC
passed the elimination of CTi News with "no objection" . Another
symbolic meaning is: this is a "beheading" of Taiwan's freedom of
speech, because the DPP government no longer allows "objection."
From today on, NCC is no longer an independent institution !
Apple Daily, editorial, 11-19-2020
We
express our regret for NCC's Shutting Cti TV Channel
The
National Communications Commission (NCC) rejected the Zhongtian News
Channel’s renewal case results in a harm to the image of Taiwan’s
press freedom, We express our regret for this.
LTN (pro-DPP) 11-19-2020
no comment
★
Digital News Report (2020) by
Oxford
university (UK) Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism: Only 24%
Taiwanese trust in news which remains one of the lowest in Oxford survey.
★
RSF, <Reporters
Sans Frontieres>,
France, (Christophe
Deloire,
Secretary General
) ,
LTN, 5-16-2020, Reporters Without
Borders (RSF, Cedric Alviani ),
Taipei Times, 12-17-2019
It is no secret that the Taiwanese media sector is plagued by
sensationalism, undeclared advertising and an unhealthy “blue-green”
political polarization that hinders journalism in its role as a
balancing power, stirring public distrust. It is not that Taiwan
lacks competent journalists, but most of them have to work under
undue pressure and cannot count on legal protection against requests
from their management that would go against journalistic ethics...
Taiwanese government always took "press freedom" as an excuse to
ignore them.
Five measures to reinforce
Taiwan’s media:
1) establish
regulations that effectively protect the independence of editorial
departments from their employers and boards of directors
2) create in law a “duty of care” that would oblige online platforms
to protect both users’ freedom of speech, and safety in regards to
hate speech and manipulation
3) upscale the amount of financial resources allocated to public
media outlets
4) support the emergence of new media outlets that aim to uphold
journalistic ethics, through economic and fiscal incentives
following a similar model to start-up development
5) emphasize critical thinking and media literacy in academic
curricula and public education actions
(brief)
★
New York Times,
12-3-2019:
Social media platforms are another key battleground
(Chn-TW): Nearly 90
percent of Taiwan’s population is
active
on them, and traditional news outlets have been
known to
republish fake posts without fact-checking.
According to Reuters, Chinese government
agencies have paid Taiwanese news outlets to publish
pro-Beijing content.
★
United Daily (聯合報) editorial,
12-5-2020,
udn.com/news/story/7338/5067782?from=udn-catehotnews_ch2
Taiwan government just banned a Chinese graphic book
for kids "await dad back home" (「等爸爸回家」) for some contents like
slogan "Go Go China ! " (中國加油), "Go Go WuHan !" (武漢加油)、and a PLA
plane illustration , which "discomfort" some officials, therefore
they must mask children's eyes, and return to "official
banned books" days around 50 years ago charged by
autocratic government.
Taiwanese government intends to ease restriction on
imported pigs
consuming ractopamine
( a feed additive that’s been banned in more than
150 countries),
and suppress opinions by all kinds of means,
including fooling ordinary people, attacking the
opposition, and forcing innocent businessmen to
endorse gov. policy.
★
★
New York Times, 1-10-2020:
Scholars say that Taiwan has been the target of a Russian-style
social media disinformation campaign by China, designed to exploit
social divisions and undermine democracy. A study by the V-Dem
Institute at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden found that
Taiwan was the territory most exposed to foreign disinformation,
based on weighted ratings by experts.
<United daily 聯合報> 1-8-2020
editorial:
The ruling party gradually
normalizes (make it a routine work)
『cyber assassination (網路暗殺)』,
even Taiwanese army, police, national security systems (國安軍警體系) have
to participate in "cyber warrior" to infiltrate in internet
communities to monitor public opinions (brief).
<United Daily 聯合報> 1-6-2020
:
Cyber force
('楊蕙如們')
still
are doing media-framing by fake
messages, getting along with the authorities to do all kinds of
cyber-bully, verbal-bully ... trying to make a white by lots of
blacks, damage judicial systems, democracy, and degrade nice social
morality ... (brief / 聯合筆記陳言喬)
<United Daily> headline
news, 1-8-2020 :
KMT presidential candidate
Han: The chief of cyber troops is Taiwan president.
★
★
China Times,
editorial <中時社論>
, 3-9-2020
The gov. suppressed freedom of
speech by 4 layers：
一、 Political power
forms threats (penalty fine and suspending the license) to certain media。
二、 Secretly bullying
by cyber force (網軍暗器霸凌)，the
victims found no evidences to fight back。
三、 Buying internet
celebrities, polls, and personality to lead the public opinions (風向)。
四、 Operating fake
news to mix wrong and rightness, the government defines the fake news。
(brief)
★
★
USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices,
3-11-2020
Concerns about censorship were limited to efforts by the authorities in the
People’s Republic of China (PRC) to censor Taiwan media outlets based on the
business interests of their parent companies in the PRC.
In May senior PRC officials used the fourth Beijing-Taiwan Media Forum to
call on Taiwan media outlets to shape their coverage to promote PRC
political priorities.
PRC authorities reinforced corporate pressure on media by using access
denial to punish Taiwan media outlets whose coverage they deemed to be
insufficiently consistent with PRC policies.
Journalists said they faced pressure from management to submit news stories
to complement or support the content of paid advertisements. Critics said
product placement under the guise of news reporting undercut objective
journalism, restricted journalists’ freedom, and undermined public trust in
the media.
★
★
Next TV news (壹電視)
3-10-2020, <年代向錢看>:
President of Taiwan Nurse Organization (護理師工會理事長): The freedom of
speech was limited/restricted (言論自由被限制 !!)
Some
nurses complained on the net that only one piece of face mask per
day,
then the cyber-force ( usually regarded as
government-related ) came and attacked them "quit your job if not
happy about that" ("不爽不要做!")，
besides, some MDs did not
hand in free face masks distributed by organization to nurses, those
N95 masks the medical center gave were too large or too small, not
safe
! etc.
★
Taiwan has more TV news channels than
most other countries, but Taiwan's media environment worsens， particularly,
in recent years media were often managed and controlled by political power.
NCC, a weirdo institution rarely seen in democratic countries is the main
trouble-maker.
Basically, NCC has two measures to
deal with those govt.-unfriendly and hostile-forces news stations， one is
giving penalty fine, another is giving them a hard time to review and
approve review Permit Application, or even cancel their license, CTI (中天)
and TVBS are two victims because NCC taking double standards
―
they ignored 年代TV station's misleading headline : Taipei mayor's wife had
affair by word-play (「柯妻紅杏出牆之戰？因酸阿中」、「啥，佩琪嗆離婚？紅杏？」)
.
Furthermore, NCC illegally put aside or put off TV's internal affairs such
as the news position of TVBS Chairman of the Board、CTI director and warden (
越權，連媒體內部事務，也插手
)， most public opinions still have no
idea about NCC speeding up to Infringe the hope of Taiwan's
democracy。(brief)
★
★
United Daily (聯合報), 2-5-2020:
The cyber force ( to protect the government ) went everywhere to
investigate and attack all complaints concerning
no place to buy face masks
(brief)
★
★
<United Daily >
opinion "外交部長不可網民化",
4-11-2020 : Taiwan
let cyber-force (netizens) attack WHO chief unchecked or without interfere,
eventually probably fail to enter WHO. (放任網民向譚德塞發動攻擊，最後結果可能事與願違。)...
Taiwanese netizens used hate-speech to attack WHO chief, e.g., Nigger、死黑鬼；or
"China pig"(「中國豬」), "Beijing Dog" (「北京狗」) on Wiki ...。https://udn.com/news/story/7338/4483673?from=udn-catehotnews_ch2
★
★
The China Times, 4-9-2020 editorial
中時社論》台灣的網路霸凌揚威國際 ( Cyber Bullying from
Taiwan came out top in international )
https://www.chinatimes.com/opinion/20200409005466-262101?chdtv
The phenomenon of cyber bullying in
Taiwan is very serious, a huge number of cyber worriers (netizens) run wild
against law and reason, ...They have two powerful weapons - (1) violent language (2) fake news.
a netizen related to the ruling party (DPP) used these two
weapons to successfully force an excellent Taiwanese diplomat in Japan to kill
himself not long ago.
After Presidential election, the cyber force even attacked international people,
therefore became vanguard for Taiwanese government, the latest case is personal
attacks WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus,
... Taiwan's officials, cyber force, and
pan-Green media worked together to do personal attacks and cyber bullying,
showing their true color and ugly face to the entire world. (台灣官方、網軍、親綠媒體聯手攻擊，完全超越理性討論問題的範疇，淪為人身攻擊與網絡霸凌，真的是「讓世界看到台灣」)
Taiwan cyber-bullying
pic.: part of the article
"an open letter to Taiwan's presidential election
candidates"
Apple Daily (蘋果日報) 12-16-2019,
brief
Taiwan media have been polluted by sensual and
embedded advertising ( fake news on the surface, ads. to the bone) for
long run, furthermore, political power pan-blue and pan-green polarize
the media field and impede the check-and-balance system, some media
workers can not expect legal protection while
facing their boss's orders violating press ethics
For full text pls. read Apple Daily
by Cedrie Alviani , RSF president of Taiwan branch
(台灣分會理事長)
★
★
★
Washington Post ,
opinions, 3-28-2019
"The United States must help
Taiwan resist Chinese dominance"
◆ Pro-Beijing
interests have bought up a huge portion of Taiwanese media and
coordinate with Beijing to spread propaganda and fake news and
manipulate social media. ...
◆
here in Taiwan, it’s China that
dominates every discussion. Beijing’s malign influence is apparent
everywhere, while the United States is seen as largely absent.
Washington must wake up to the danger of China’s massive effort to
infiltrate, undermine and eventually abolish Taiwan’s democracy ...
The Chinese government uses economic coercion to both recruit and
punish Taiwanese leaders. Meanwhile, China is working overtime to
strip Taiwan of its diplomatic allies and keep it out of
multilateral institutions. Beijing is literally trying to erase the
country from the map.
★
Taiwan
News, Jun. 9, 2020
pic.: Taiwanese freedom of speech ?
It's committed crime !! splashing paints on Hong Kong singer, some
other cases are splashing paint on Hong Kongers or Hong Kong escapers,
splashing dirt to some Taiwanese house ( police failed to get criminals )
and restaurants, etc. Very low down !
pic. :
The
website was ranked No.1 by "freedom of
expression in Taiwan"
on Yandex of Russia , 1-25-2020;
No.1 "Taiwan freedom of
expression" on Yandex of Russia ,
10-25-2019
★
New York Times, 11-28-2018,
Will Taiwan Be the First Domino to Fall to China?
The research institute of NHK
( Japan’s national broadcaster): influential media
conglomerates in Taiwan have become pro-Beijing; their major shareholders
have been given greater business opportunities in China’s vast market.
Major Taiwanese newspapers and TV stations regularly feature content that
hardly differs from that in China or routinely heap praise on Chinese
leaders...
★
★
US Country Reports on Human
Rights Practices released at 3-13-2019
:
the impact of the concentration of media ownership on freedom of the press,
particularly among companies with People’s Republic of China (PRC) investment,
self-censorship continued. Journalists said they faced pressure from
management to submit news stories to complement or support the content of paid
advertisements. Critics said product placement under the guise of news reporting
undercut objective journalism, restricted journalists’ freedom, and undermined
public trust in the media. Taipei officials pressured a magazine reporter
to drop an investigative report about the city’s breach of personal information
for more than 3,000 AIDS patients.
★
★<Reporters
Sans Frontieres>
(RSF, France) , 4-18-2019:
Taiwan’s journalists are suffering
from a very polarized media environment dominated by sensationalism and the
pursuit of profit. Although President Tsai Ing-wen has said she wants to
continue developing press freedom in Taiwan, few concrete measures have been
taken to improve journalists’ editorial independence and encourage media to
raise the quality of the public debate. Beijing is exploiting this weakness
by putting pressure on Taiwanese media owners, who often have business
interests on the mainland. Beijing is also suspected of orchestrating online
disinformation campaigns – a threat that could lead to questionable
retaliatory measures by Taiwan such as refusing visas to Chinese journalists
regarded as hostile.
Taiwan ranks No. 42 in the 2019
World Press Freedom Index. https://rsf.org/en/taiwan
pic. left: China Times 3-29-2019 headline news: Defend
100% freedom of speech! Democracy on the surface, anti-democracy
to the bone is not allowed.
pic. right: Apple
Daily 3-29-2019 editorial opinion:
Democracy &
Freedom of speech is the bottom line
which should never be lost, the government should not create chilling
effect by fishing in trouble water.
◆
★
<China
Times
(中國時報)>
3-29-2019
head page:
(www.chinatimes.com/opinion/?chdtv)
The media have freedom to choose sides, but no any side should limit the
freedom, Taiwan government should not choose the old route, Orwellian administration.
◆
★
<Apple
Daily>, 11-25-2018, KMT's "Secret Police" sayings seriously
damaged the image of ruling party eventually being handed a major
defeat in local elections. (New York Times, 11-23-2018:
Taiwan's ruling party was handed a major defeat in local elections)
◆
★
<United Daily
(聯合報)>
11-2-2018, headline news
National Security Bureau confirmed their investigations of Facebook's
and other's communities on the net, for monitoring, controlling and
collecting "controversial information" including those "influence
national security",
"blacken
("詆譭", a term of Martial Law
period / UDN, 11-3-2018)
president", "disrupt social stability",
"distort policy" and
"disturb national mechanism",
"fight governmental prestige", "influence public mind and morale";
UDN 11-3-2018:
all internet platform service providers in Taiwan were requested to hand in
all users' personal information.
UDN critiques pointed out "Big Brother is watching you" almost for sure lead
to "Chilling Effect". ps: Intel. sys. suspectedly
controls free expression of some websites not related to China.
★
★
<Apple
Daily (蘋果日報)> 11-7-2018 editorial opinion: by
whatever name ( "secret police" or "national security bureau")
it is called, what
"it" did secretly
were always more than what it admitted to the public
( 安全部門無論當時名稱是東廠、警總、或國安部門,「"他們"暗中做的
永遠超過公開承認的」)
★
◆
★
<United Daily
(聯合報)>
11-3-2018, editorial and Focus edition
pic. left: KMT
legislator : all internet platform service providers in Taiwan were invited by
the government and requested to hand in all users' personal information/data.
Taiwan's intelligence
"National Security Bureau"
has been doing overall monitors on all Taiwanese.
The head of NSB
expressed that investigations
and monitoring will be used to those criticizing and blackening Taiwan
president. KMT press conference criticized NSB was
infringing
Taiwanese rights and interests.
Where is freedom of
expression ?
UDN
11-3-2018 headline news :
Top target media communities that
Taiwan's FBI has been monitoring are
(1) Facebook , (2) Youtube (3) LINE
pic. left: Taiwan
president Tsai I. W.
clarified that democratic Taiwan
would no way go back to
Martial Law Period , my Facebook
is a best example, where is filled with encouragements, critiques, and
free
discussions concerning public issues.....
pic. left: The sites-group was ranked
No.1 on Google Taiwan
by "Facebook
free expression",
11-24-2018
◆◆
★
breaking news
damaged web-pages of the
sites
dirty attacks
!
free speech is worse ever in the past 20 years ! prime
suspects are ... ?
11-22-'18
New form attacks happened at 11-20-2018 ... each char. being typing in
took a long time (seconds, even 10+ minutes, or forever) to be shown on
the screen while updating my web-pages concerning Taiwan judicial
systems and prosecutors... attacks last ...
attacks
happened again
at 8-10-2018,
8-11-2018 (about
4:20pm), who
can't afford
freedom of
speech?? a
mean and evil
group !!
hackers attacked
more often since
this page was
created, twice
in recent 2
weeks or so
(9-28-2018)
◆◆
★ The US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
, released at 4-20-2018
●
concern about the impact of the
concentration of media ownership on freedom of the press,
particularly among companies with PRC investment.
● business leaders in
Taiwan raised concerns that journalists whose reports were perceived
as hurting the interests of businesses could face retaliation in the
form of lawsuits and other threats.
● Censorship or Content
Restrictions: Local academics and media activists alleged that
self-censorship continued since some media presented news stories
slanted in favor of the PRC due to political considerations and the
influence of local businesses with close ties to the PRC. PRC
authorities reinforced such pressure by using access denial to
punish Taiwan media outlets whose coverage they deem to be
insufficiently consistent with PRC policies...
◆◆
★
Apple Daily, opinion,
7-12-2018 "The most intolerable page of
the relationship of Taiwanese media and politics"
Egg on media face !
The relationship of Taiwanese media
and politics has been tangled and complicated for a long time ...
the case (ctn boss) had proved themutualism between KMT and some media ......
some media boss
became DPP factional politics media, such
a disorder phenomenon ...
◆◆
★
The China Times, opinion, 6-19-2018
Taiwanese mediashould not be "hit-men" for bad political
struggles between KMT (pan-blue) and DDP (pan-green) ... 媒體不應該當藍綠惡鬥的打手
(http://www.chinatimes.com/newspapers/20180619000632-260109)
◆
★
The China Times, scholar opinion, 6-13-2018
Many Taiwanese government dept. leaders often provided
incorrect/wrong news, many legislators often spoke carelessly, they
don't need to take any responsibility for that because today's
political climate is not good, media lost its power of control and
oversight ... / professor Lai (賴祥蔚)
◆
★ The US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
, released at 3-3-2017 The
report also laid out concerns over Taiwanese media self-censorship
with regard to China...
◆
★ Paris-based <Reporters Sans Frontieres> (RSF,
Reporters without Borders),
4-27-2017
●Taiwan's
press freedom at 45th place ;
Taiwan’s situation
as “media freedom on hold,” stating that “the main threat to media freedom comes
from China, which has been exerting growing economic and political pressure on
the Taiwanese media.”
●
Local government officials are also directly interfering in the editorial
policies of state-owned media
●
RSF opened their first Asia bureau headquarters in Taipei in 2017.
●
Top rankings :19 Australia 18 portugal 17 Slovakia
16 Germany 15 Luxemburg 14 Ireland 13 New Zealand 12
Estonia 11 Austria 10 Iceland 9 Belgium 8 Jamaica 7
Swiss 6 Costa Rica 5 Nederland 4 Denmark 3
Finland 2 Sweden 1 Norway
◆
◆
breaking news
At
2-22-2018, the dark power (who is
prime suspect ?? Taiwan ?) blocked
my uploading brief file (in
Chinese version)
about UK's IISS study
―
China's
advanced military systems
are challenging the global
predominance of the United States
and its allies ...
to
http://courageworld.ch/TaiwanROC.htm
and
http://ProtectHumanRights.net/TaiwanROC.htm
;
however, uploading those info. in
English version is fine.
There're many similar and evil
things happened, but no evidence to
prove who the darkness is.
Nov. 18, 2017
The China Times :
Taiwan president gave tacit (secretly) permission to Facebook (Taiwan) to restrict
or block
certain contents ... brief http://opinion.chinatimes.com/20171118000516-262114;
Taiwan
government did not deny or respond this.
Pls. note
that
uploading files got similar problems as above.
◆
★
Apple Daily, The China Times, United Daily News, The Liberty
Times, Hong Kong ifeng (香港鳳凰網
) , Hong Kong CRNTT (中評社),
Sina China, 7-27-2017, 7-28-2017
brief, details
Facebook in Taiwan
Politicians
and online personalities said they had been denied access to their Facebook accounts after writing criticisms of Pan-Green coalition,
the ruling political party DPP. The leader of Chinese Nationalist
Party think tank stated that the freedom of speech on Facebook Taiwan has
retreated 50 years, and urged
FB's
Taiwanese
users getting together to accuse Facebook, to tell the whole world
about this deformed
and illegal
phenomenon
-
free-expression
terror on Facebook. This issue has already been
included in Wikipedia references. Taiwanese government denied having
sent political requests to Facebook. Facebook Hong Kong &
Taiwan office officially denied that they took sides or favored one of
2 major political parties or suppressed Taiwanese freedom of expression.
◆
◆
★The US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
, released at 4-13-2016
◆
The
Association of Taiwan Journalists condemned
the journalists’ arrests, saying they
infringed on freedom of the press, violated
the journalists’ human rights, and were
meant to deter media coverage of protests. /
three journalists were arrested while
covering a student protest against proposed
changes to curriculum guidelines for high
school textbooks (see section 2.b.). The
journalists were arrested for allegedly
trespassing when they entered the Ministry
of Education without a permit and joined a
group of protesters who climbed over a fence
and broke into Minister Wu Se-hwa’s office.
The journalists, who denied the accusation,
were released without charge the next day.
afterward, the Ministry of Education
dropped its complaint against the
journalists.
◆
Censorship or Content Restrictions:
Local academics and media activists alleged
that self-censorship continued as some media
chose to present news stories in favor of
the People’s Republic of China (PRC) due to
political considerations and the influence
of local businesses with close ties to the
PRC.
◆
concern
about the impact of the increasing
concentration of media ownership on freedom
of the press.
◆◎
★ Paris-based <Reporters Sans Frontieres> (RSF,
Reporters without Borders),
4-21-2016
Taiwan
was ranked No. 51 (score 24.37 - worse
than 24.83 on 2015's report) according to World Press Freedom Index 2016 released by
Reporters Without Borders (RSF).The main threat to media
freedom comes from China, which has been exerting growing economic
and political pressure on the Taiwanese media. The editorial line of
some privately-owned media has changed radically and it is no longer
rare to find media outlets taking a line similar to the Chinese
Communist Party’s propaganda. Journalistic independence is also
threatened by Taiwanese officials who interfere directly in the
editorial policies of the state-owned media.
Top 5 :
1. Finland 8.59 2.
Holland 8.76 3. Norway 8.79 4. Denmark
5. NZ
,
USA is No.41 (Freedom ends
where national security begins) out of 180
countries, Chn No.176 (Great
Firewall and systematic imprisonment
) score 80.96 which is -7.41
worse than 2015.
●
★<Freedom House>,
USA
( a
Washington-based think tank
),
4-27-2016
/ASIA-PACIFIC
Regional Rankings & Scores，
Taiwan's
Global Rank
is
No.
46 (No 44-46 same score), No.7 in Asia Pacific， press
freedom score
is 26, legal
environment(0-30)scores 9, political environment9(0-40),
economic environment 8(0-30)。Top-score
countries are
Norway(No.1), Belgium, Finland, Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark,
Andorra, Luxembourg, Switzerland , Liechtenstein, Iceland;
besides, Canada no. 22, US 30, Germany 25,
UK 41, NZ 26, Australia 33, Japan 45.
Taiwan's
freedom (Feb. 7, 2017) aggregate score 91(100: Most Free), same
score as No.37~41countries Bahamas, Costa Rica,
Liechtenstein, Lithuania, St Vincent &
Grenadines, Taiwan is at position 42 in
the table.
●◎
★
The China Times,
chief editorial , 2-4-2017
Taiwan media's
major issues today are no longer media independency, but narrowly
partisan politics and conflicts each other,
too over populism without guidelines and directions,
Ideology being stirred up to oppose to each other.(黨同伐異、民粹氾濫與煽動意識型態對立的課題)
★
★
The United Daily ,
Chief-editorial , 2-6-2017
Those Taiwan's media
lacking of self-discipline and Political/media/TV
pundits , Panelist lacking of expertise-knowledge
actually became the major source of chaos. In this
"post-truth" age, fake news are everywhere ......Taiwan's
democracy and nomocracy (rule by law) are degraded day by day.
★
★The US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
for 2014, released at June 26, 2015
Speech freedom / protesters occupied
the Executive Yuan. Police forcibly evicted them the next day using
batons and water cannon. According to media reports, at least 174
persons, including 119 police officers, were injured in the
incident. Local media have reported incidents of police
obstruction and violence directed at journalists who were covering
protests against administration policies. Local academics and
media activists alleged that self-censorship continued as some media
chose to present news stories in favor of the PRC due to political
considerations and the influence of local businesses with close ties
to the PRC.
◎◎
★<Freedom House>,
USA
( a
Washington-based think tank
),
4-29-2015
Taiwan's press-freedom score
from 24 (2014 report) down to 27, ranked no.48 , fell 1 place from last year's
/ Liberty
Times , 4-30-2015
the vigorous and diverse press reports aggressively on government
policies and alleged official wrongdoings. But, political
polarization, self-censorship, and indirect communist Chinese
influence somewhat limit the diversity of opinions in mainstream
media. Journalists occasionally face pressure to self-censor
on topics important to Red Chinese government. Many Taiwanese
media owners have business connection in China, or like to earn ads.
revenue from mainland Chinese companies, making them wary of
upsetting Beijing. Besides, hackers attacked those media
criticizing Chinese government, although the authority took
investigation on that, Taiwan's press freedom score and ranking
position fell. (ps: Norway, Sweden, Belgium, Finland, Holland
on top)
◆Websites
commenting Taiwan judiciary and prosecutors (http://intlhumanrights.com/TaiwanJudiciary.htm
http://intlhumanrights.com/ProsecutorsTaiwan.htm ) can't be open in
governmental institutions - National Central Library ( test at
2-19-2016) and Taipei City Daan District Office (test at 3-14-2016)...
but non-gov. places may see them.
ps: test again at
5-22-2017 in SinEi District Office, it is not 'banned' now.
Most likely it became normal since DPP took charge of the government .
★
London-based
Amnesty International
, 2-25-2015
Amnesty expressed
concerns about Taiwan’s handling of the student-led
Sunflower movement protest against a trade deal with China
in March last year.
It said more than
200 protesters were summoned for questioning under the
Criminal Code and Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法), and that
they remained under threat of prosecution.
◎
★
London-based
Amnesty International
, 2-11-2015
London-based
AI expressed Taiwan must
cancel the prosecution against
Sunflower movement protest students, and
urged Taiwan to modify the
Criminal Code and Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法)
and related laws to meet international standard.
/ source: 大紀元2015年02月11日訊
◎
★Paris-based <Reporters Sans Frontieres> (RSF,
Reporters without Borders),
Feb. 13,
2015
Taiwan
fell 1 place (2015's ranking: No. 51) from the ranking in 2014's report,
according to World Press Freedom Index 2015 released yesterday by
Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
Top 21 : Finland, Norway, Denmark,
Netherlands, Sweden, NZ, Austria, Canada, Jamaica, Estonia, Ireland,
Germany, Czech, Slovakia, Belgium, Costa Rica, Namibia, Poland,
Luxembourg, Swiss, and Iceland. Besides, Spain No. 33, UK No.34,
France No. 38, USA No. 49, HK 70, Italia 73, Rus No. 152, China
No.176
◎
★
United Daily, Taiwan, 2-25-2016
according to a latest survey, 78% think media monopoly
problem in Taiwan is serious.
◎
★The US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
for 2013, released at Feb. 27, 2014
Censorship or Content Restrictions:
Pressure from China
and from local businessmen had led to some self-censorship.
Local
academics and media activists alleged that self-censorship occurred due to
influence by local businesses and the PRC.
They pointed to a study released in April by
a National Taiwan University professor,
which found two of Taiwan's leading
newspapers published more favorable news
stories on visiting PRC officials than their
competitors. In addition, they alleged that
the state-run Central News Agency decided
not to publish a news story about a Gallup
poll that found Taiwan people were
pessimistic about their daily life. (ps:
speech and the press were generally free)
◎
★<Freedom House>,
USA
( a
Washington-based think tank
),
May 2, 2014
Taiwan's
media freedom declines again
(BBC: for consecutive 3 years) -
Taiwan
fell 1 places from the 2013's report.
Taiwan has been ranked 48th in the world for media freedom and labeled "free" by
the US-based NGO Freedom House.
◎
★
Washington Post, 3.25.2014
State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said
Monday the U.S. supports Taiwan’s vibrant democracy, and hopes that its
discussion over the trade agreement can be conducted “peacefully and civilly.”
(Political protests in Taiwan are common, but violent confrontations relatively
rare, reflecting the high level of civil discourse resulting from the transition
from one-party dictatorship to robust democracy in the mid-1990s. The
United States has welcomed steps taken by China and Taiwan to reduce tensions.)
◎
★
The International Federation of
Journalists
, 3.26.2014 Journalists Obstructed as Police Use Force at Taiwan Student
Demonstration
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins
its affiliate the Association of Taiwan Journalists (ATJ) in
condemning the restraining of media reporting on a
student-led demonstration in Taiwan which led to a violent
confrontation between police and protestors earlier this
week. This week, the ATJ issued a declaration on the
infringement of coverage with calls for police education in
the wake of the heavy-handed police response.
◎
★Paris-based <Reporters Sans Frontieres> (RSF,
Reporters without Borders),
Feb. 13,
2014
Taiwan’s
ranking for press freedom fell three
notches from last year to 50th.
Paris-based <Reporters Sans Frontieres> (RSF),
a press freedom watchdog body
Feb. 13,
2014
according to the World Press
Freedom Index 2014 released yesterday by Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
The retreat in Taiwan’s global ranking
reflected China’s growing economic clout, which has allowed Beijing to extend
its influence over the media in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau, “which had been
largely spared political censorship until recently,”
Finland retained the top position in the overall
list, ahead of the Netherlands, Norway, Luxembourg and Andorra.
◎
★
BBC,
5.1.2014
After a series of protests against TW government, Taiwan
limits Taiwanese' freedom of speech on the net. Taiwan policemen are
trying to search an internet poster to scare many.
(details pls refer to BBC "台灣收緊網路言論自由"
full text)
◎◎
According to NCC's latest annual report regarding Taiwan's media
communication survey, the most complaints (about 37%") go to "untrue/unbiased
content" (2014, 2013, 2012, 2011), among these, Taiwanese most complaints go to
TV news report. ◎◎
★ <Freedom
House>,
Washington D.C., USA
, the Freedom of the Press
world survey report, issued
on May 1, 2013
With an overall score of 26 on the
annual report’s zero to 100 scale,
Taiwan dropped one
score
from 2012 as well as 2011.
Taiwan's ranking (No. 8) in Asia &
Pacific
slipped one spot
from last
year (No.7).
<Freedom House> 2013 report
May 1, 2013
In the Freedom of the Press world survey Washington-based watchdog organization
Freedom House.
The main
reason Taiwan's freedom of press falling
one point from last year's 25 because of a worse legal environment,
(Taiwanese
government has put off approving a license for the establishment of a new
television station whose owner's financial status turned out to be unsustainable,
so must give up the plan ).
Political polarization, self-censorship and indirect Chinese influence limit the
diversity of opinions represented in Taiwan’s mainstream media, according to a
new report from the US-based watchdog Freedom House.
Freedom House, a Washington-based
non-governmental organization that supports the expansion of freedom
around the world. Taiwan
was judged to have a “free” press with an overall “freedom score” of 26
points, just one point less free than the previous year.
◎
★ <Freedom
House>, Washington D.C., USA , issued
on May 31 (US time), June 1, 2013
(eastern time)
Taiwan media reflect diverse perspectives and report sayings of
government's corruption and government policies. However, Taiwan media
show a strong preference/bias on some political party, some candidates.
◎◎
★
<Reporters Sans Frontieres> (RSF,
Reporters without Borders), France,
Jan
30, 2013
Taiwan
ranked 47th in the world in terms of
press freedom, Taiwan
fell two places from the 2012 in
the global rankings. the watchdog was
concerned about the protests in Taiwan last year against the Want Want China
Times Group’s (旺旺中時集團) bid to buy into another media group.
Taiwan remained at the top in the region, ahead of South Korea in
50th place and Japan at 53rd.
◎
Concentration of
ownership of media outlets
raised concerns about
freedom of expression and
editorial independence. In
July, the National
Communications Commission
(NCC) conditionally approved
Want Want China Times
Group’s acquisition of a
major cable television
channel and, in November,
acquisition of newspaper
giant Next Media. In
December, the Taipei High
Administrative Court ruled
that the NCC had the
executive power to revoke
the Group’s acquisition of
another cable television
channel because the channel
had failed to meet the
conditions set by the NCC.
◎◎
★
<The
Taiwan Foundation for Democracy (TFD )>
& SHU, Dec.
10, 2013 2013 Survey shows a
"F" score (rating 2.7/5.0points) on
Taiwanese communication privacy and freedom.
◎
★
<Freedom House>
( a
Washington-based think tank
& human rights organization
), USA, May 1, 2012
Taiwan was tied with Poland, Slovenia and Trinidad and Tobago for
47th in
Freedom House's 2012 Freedom of the Press rankings,
Among Asia-Pacific countries, Taiwan ranked seventh.
Taiwan received a total score of 25 points, the same as in 2011.
Taiwan scored an 8 for its legal environment (1 point worse than last year's
survey), a 9 for its political environment (no change), and an 8 for its
economic environment (1 point better than last year).
Other concerns include
the use of criminal defamation laws against a journalist and blogger as well as a
proposed merger that could reduce media diversity."
incidents of news content produced by China's state-run media outlets appearing
in Taiwanese newspapers "under less than transparent conditions."
......
◎◎
★
<Amnesty
International>, London,
UK, May 24, 2012
Taiwan's
Restrictions on freedom of assembly
remained, with no progress made towards
a relaxation of existing, stringent
laws. The authorities did little to
protect the housing rights of farmers
across the island, at times colluding in
their eviction.
◎◎
★
<Reporters Sans Frontieres> (RSF,
Reporters without Borders), France,
Jan
25, 2012
Taiwan's rank on Freedom of Press ( freedom
of Information) : 45th.
ps:
Taiwan declined - Taiwan ranked
no. 36 in 2008.
Press freedom Index : Finland No.1, Norway No.1
New Zealand
No.13, Japan No. 22, Australia No.30, South Korea
No.44,
Taiwan No.45, USA, No.47, HK No.54 US extra territorial No. 57, China
No.174
Apple Daily News, Jan. 26, 2012
Taiwan's rank in 2011 : No.47
◎◎
★
<Taipei Times>, Dec. 11 2012 The
Democratic Progressive Party: The erosion of human rights
under KMT's administration, in particular regarding the judiciary and media, has placed
Taiwan’s proud democracy in jeopardy
and requires attention from the international community, ...
applying a three-part strategy to monopolize
local media by first “paralyzing the public television system
and controlling the Chinese Television System,” then following up
with Want Want China Times Group’s (旺旺中時集團) “vertical integration of
a cable television service and horizontal integration of its pending
merger of the Next Media Group.”... Implementing the Assembly and
Parade Act (集會遊行法) was the most glaring example of Ma’s
noncompliance with the covenants,... there were two major
crises in Taiwan: first, people’s suffering from the sluggish
economy; second, the backsliding of human rights and the
re-emergence of authoritarianism.
◎
★ <China Post>, Dec. 11 2012 The Democratic Progressive Party
(DPP) chairman: Taiwan currently faces two major human rights
crises: prosecutors that abuse their powers to persecute the
people, and private interests that wield dangerous power over the
media, Su said, pointing to China as one of the big players in the
monopolization of Taiwan's media.
DPP's Policy Research Committee: a recent poll indicates that
62.3 % of Taiwanese are dissatisfied
with the government's protection of
human rights.
◎
★
<Apple Daily>, Dec. 5, 2012 Taiwan's freedom of speech is in
retreat, scholars worry about Taiwan's democracy doesn't work well ...
Acording to "2012
Taiwanese Human Rights index survey" (conducted by 中華人權協會), 17.9% Taiwanese
think Taiwan's overall human rights in progress, 36% think it is in retreat, 76%
Taiwanese don't satisfy Taiwan's economy human rights.
◎
★ <Taipei Times>,
Dec. 8, 2012
Public feels
human rights deteriorating
DISSATISFACTION:
Official corruption, the government’s inability to fill people’s needs and
media independence were top
public concerns, according to a survey of public opinion by the
government-affiliated Taiwan Foundation for Democracy (conducted by Shih Hsin
University),...
Corruption was the target of the greatest public dissatisfaction, scoring 1.9
points. It was followed by the government’s ability to respond to people’s
needs, which garnered 2 points, and external interference in judicial rulings,
at 2.1 points.
◎
★
<Apple Daily>, Dec. 6, 2012 , <Sing Tao Daily> Dec. 5,
2012
Tsinghua University student Chen Wei-ting in the Legislative Yuan
was impolite to Taiwan's Education Minister led to a controversy -
Education Minister
did not listen properly to the demands of the students so
he deserve an impolite speech VS. "the behavior of Chen
led us to think of the Cultural Revolution in China, in which the
red guards scolded society's elite."
We should focus on protestant students' main demand - the issue that
Taiwan's government permitting the Next Media buyout, and Education
Minister used the
extraordinarily
sensitive phrase "care"(
「關心」or
concern), which is overtones
word that in the martial law era (戒嚴時期)
garrison the headquarters interviews and intimidation of dissidents.
(警備總部約談並恐嚇異議人士時也是使用「關心」這個有弦外之音的語詞。)
★
<Central Radio Station>, Taiwan, Aug. 16,
2012.
ROC (Taiwan government) Foreign Ministry spokesman
expressed the behavior of some Hong Kong citizens who carried the national flag of
the Republic of China (Taiwan R.O.C.) as well as the flag of People's Republic
of China and boarded the Diaoyu
Islands (Diaoyutais 釣魚台/釣魚島) belongs to "the freedom of expression". Japanese government has
been insisting that Diaou islands (
Diaoyutais
) belongs to Japan and arrested those HK people
.
◎
★
<the Liberty Times>, Taiwan, April 21, 2012
DDP said Taiwan's
first human rights report released yesterday is full of empty boasts
and obfuscations ... During DDP's administration,
Taiwan's press freedom status went from 35th up to 32nd place, but in KMT time,
Taiwan's press freedom status dropped from 42nd down to 48th place.
◎ ★
<the China Times>, Taiwan, March 10, 2012
On Mar. 8, 2012, pig farmers
across Taiwan voiced their opposition to the
government's possible decision to relax import restrictions on beef containing
ractopamine (Paylean drugs) with a protest rally in front of the
Legislative Yuan and the Council of Agriculture (Taiwanese
government) , Taiwanese police arrested
them for their violation of the Assembly and Parade Law,
...... they scolded this had a contempt for
international human rights conventions.
◎
★
2011 Human Rights reports <USA
Country Reports on Human Rights practices> , issued
on April 8, 2011
Taiwan's authorities increased their placement of advertisements
packaged as news reports in local newspapers and television.
◎
★ <Freedom
House>, Washington D.C., USA
, the Freedom of the Press
world survey report, issued
on May 2, 2011
With an overall score of 25 on the
annual report’s zero to 100 scale,
Taiwan dropped one spot to
48th
from 2010.
Taiwan’s scores
have declined
three years in a row.
<Freedom House> 2011 report
May 2, 2011
In the Freedom of the Press world survey Washington-based watchdog organization
Freedom House.
Taiwan's press freedom in 2010 was
ranked 47th
among all nations, slipping three
spots compared to 2009.
Freedom House, a Washington-based
non-governmental organization that supports the expansion of freedom
around the world.
◎
★ <Freedom
House>, Washington D.C., USA, Jan. 21, 2012
(1) complaints about unfair competition and concerns about
Beijing's interference were present throughout the presidential election
campaign.
(2) some criminal law is kept and
can be used for suing reporters and internet blog writers, may against Taiwan's
press freedom.
(3) Taiwan's overall rating remained the same as last
year 2011 and
the Washington-based group pro-democracy watchdog highlighted
Taiwan's presidential elections in its Freedom. (Liberty Times head-page, Taipei
Times, 1/21/2012)
◎
★
<Amnesty International>, London, UK, annual report The State of the
World's Human Rights 2011, May 13, 2011
Taiwan was criticized over issues to
do with the death penalty,
freedom of expression (The report also criticized Taiwan's government for what it said was its
failure to deliver on promises to amend the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) that limits citizens' rights to assembly and free speech.),
justice and migrants' rights.
◎
★
<the Christian Science Monitor
>, USA - Jan
3, 2011
For the past two years, Freedom House has downgraded Taiwan's
rating in its annual report on global press freedom. Critics say
it's common for government propaganda to masquerade as 'news.'
▼
...many observers say
that the glitter of the island republic’s free press has been
overrated, especially in a highly commercialized news culture
that is both deeply partisan and prey to political favors. For
the past two years Freedom House has downgraded Taiwan’s rating
in its annual report on global press freedom.
▼The placement of advertising as news is only the “tip of the
iceberg,”
▼One example of creeping government influence is the media's
minimization of criticism of government policies and
exaggeration of its achievements, says Guang, who teaches
journalism at National Chung Cheng University.......“Taiwan’s news media are not yet independent,” says Guang.
“Can the public really accept this?”
reported by
Taiwan's most popular newspaper, Apply Daily, at Jan 5, 2011
◎
★ <
ReportersWithoutBorders
>
, Paris France , Oct. 21, 2010
Press Freedom Index (2010):
Taiwan ranks No. 48, other Asia & Pacific
countries like New Zealand (No. 8）,
Japan（No. 11）, Hong Kong（No. 34）, South Korea（No. 42）.
Top 5 are Finland, Iceland, Holland, Norway,
and Sweden. USA ranks No. 20, China No. 171.
◎
★
<Freedom House> - Washington D.C.
, USA - 2010
Taiwan's press freedom
declined
，...
Taiwan ranked 43th last year, 47th in 2010...
◎
★
<Freedom House> - Washington D.C.
, USA - Jan. 13, 2011
the report rated Taiwan's freedom of the media lower than the
previous year, on the basis of a controversy surrounding the country's
Public Television Service (PTS).
The heads of PTS were removed in last September amid concerns about the
independence of publicly-funded media.
Freedom House 2011 report
Jan 13, 2011
Freedom House, a Washington-based
non-governmental organization that supports the expansion of freedom
around the world.
Four days after the election, the reporter of
"Taiwan Times," Jiang W.S. (江文兟),
was serious hurt by four masked man, resulting in
his hands and left foot fracture. His articles
in newspaper favored DDP's candidate (邱議瑩) ,
instead of KMT's (鍾).
Reporters group and scholars condemned
violence, and hope the police to clarify the case as
soon as possible, otherwise will harm the freedom of
the press, and will result in a retrogression of
democracy.
◎◎
★ <ReportersWithoutBorders >
Paris, France, Oct. 1, 2010
ReportersWithoutBorders believes that a
democratic government should take pride in defending the
state-owned media’s independence. Protecting their
independence is essential in order to guarantee a really
democratic political system, one that allows all political
parties and all sectors of society to make their voices
heard.
...We
urge ... to ensure
that PTS's (Taiwan's
Public Television Service) editorial independence
...
◎
No.1
on Yahoo by keyword "Freedom of speech in
Taiwan" in Chinese, test at 1.12.2015
No.1 on Google Chinese keyword "freedom of speech(expression) in Taiwan"， test at May 14,
2011Eastern time, No.2 at 1/11/2012
◎
★
<Taipei Times> ,
Taiwan,
May 1, 2010
Taiwan's press freedom
declines
SELF-CENSORSHIP
Freedom
House cited softening criticism of Ma and China
after the China Times Group was bought by a
businessman with interests in China
Press freedoms in Taiwan have declined for a
second straight year, according to a new report
released by a US-based non-profit watchdog.
..., a revival of
‘embedded marketing’ amidst economic
difficulties resulting from the global financial
crisis, actions by media owners and government
influence over the editorial content of publicly
owned outlets posed challenges for media
independence during the year.”
... a controversy concerning board members
at the Public Television Service (PTS)
and
personnel changes the government made at
state-owned media that “have raised concerns
that their aim is to influence the editorial
content of the nonpartisan outlets.”
... 2009 that
criticism of the government in the Central News
Agency’s [CNA] coverage appeared to have been
markedly toned down since the end of 2008, ... deputy
president and CNA staff reported receiving
editorial directives to alter certain content,”
the report said.
... Tsai Eng-meng
(蔡衍明),... purchased the China Times Group... softening criticism of the Ma
administration, Beijing or improvements in
cross-strait ties. This also raised concerns
over the potential direct or indirect influence
of the Chinese government on free expression in
Taiwan,”...
◎
★
<Apple daily news> ,
Taiwan,
public editorial, Oct. 12, 2011,
"Protect
our speech freedom!"
by professor Cheng, NTU.
Some
financial groups with huge
money & political power are going to involve in mass media circle
...
◎◎
★
<Freedom House/IFEX> - Washington - September 27, 2010
Freedom House expresses concern over public television integrity
... "We encourage Taiwan's policy makers to ensure that the PTS does not
become a casualty of political conflict."
ps :
Freedom House pointed out
that
Taiwan
denied a
visa to Kadeer Rabiye
Qadir, Uighur dissidents in Sept. 2009.
Freedom House Expresses Concern over Public Television Integrity
in Taiwan
Freedom House urges Taiwan to safeguard the integrity of the
country's public broadcaster following the removal of its
leadership.
On September 19, Taiwan’s Public Television Service Foundation, the
entity that oversees the Public Television Service (PTS), took the
unusual step of removing the station’s leadership, Sylvia Feng
(President and CEO) and Chung Yu-yuan (Executive Vice President),
just three months before their three-year terms were set to expire.
The Public Broadcasting Foundation claimed that the firings were
made on the basis of poor performance, an assertion that Feng and
Chung reject and may challenge in court ...
Press Freedom Index : Taiwan ranks
No. 59 in
2009 ( Japan 17th ), but ranked 36th in 2008. Taiwan
dropped 23 notches (now is behind the 57th position
― Haiti).
PTS( (Taiwan's
Public Television Service)
becomes the shame of Taiwan. (by Mr. Chen Bing-hong)
◎
★
<Liberty times>, Taiwan
◎
April 30, 2010
Concerns
over the potential direct or indirect influence of the Chinese government on
free expression in Taiwan.
<Freedom House> also commented ERA
News, Central News Agency (CNA) and
Public Television Service (PTS) , in addition to the China times. (Also of note was the influence of owners over the editorial
content of media they acquire. After Tsai Eng-Meng, a
businessman with significant commercial interests in the PRC
purchased the China Times Group in November 2008, a series of
incidents in 2009—including Tsai’s own comments to the
media—pointed to a subsequent change in editorial policy in the
direction of softening criticism of the Ma administration,
Beijing, or improvements in cross-strait ties. This also raised
concerns over the potential direct or indirect influence of the
Chinese government on free expression in Taiwan. )
〔編譯張沛元、記者蘇永耀、趙靜瑜／綜合報導〕
◎
Sept. 27, 2010
Main reason of Taiwan's press
freedom going
backwards is
government placement marketing
KMT( Taiwan's Chinese Nationalist Party
) used one-party dominance and
Legislative Yuan's (the national
legislature) modification of
the laws
(Theterm of
previous presidencies
have notexpired,
so KMT can't force them to step down, hence they modified the law to
change the number of board member from 11 to 21 ... ) to legally dominate the
board member.
Taiwan's media accept government placement marketing for
:
(1) Strong competition ― too many media in a small market.
Survival of the
fittest ?? (2) A long term government-media culture in Taiwan.
Most Taiwanese trust news
reports, so government uses this trust for
publicity/propaganda/comm.
Taiwan government should let
Taiwanese people tell between news and placement marketing.
Officials can only purchase ads, not news reports. Taiwan
needs an independent, diversified cultured, and
high-quality environment.
Besides, media reporters don't have enough
organized power to contend pressures from outside world or
high ranking people. [by
管中祥]
◎
July,
2010
Taiwan's parliament must take the responsibility to maintain
Taiwan's image and quality of democracy and freedom ―
they should full-scaled examine budget for government placement
marketing .
Government takes 2 ways for placement marketing:
(1)
Threaten or tempt media by payments for placement
(like
"embedded advertising").
(2) even worse way is to place
'embedded ads' in
news reports, ordinary readers fail to tell truly news and
partly "brainwashing" messages.
China's ads too .
abstracts from reports by reporter Lin Jiaqi, Yi-Ching
Chen / Taipei
◎
2010-7-8
Latest report by
< Freedom House > of USA (Washington D.C.)
points out the
Taiwan government placement (
'embedded' ads
) in the media ,
and political
forces involved in
Central News Agency [CNA] and other
issues.
A professor
(Chung Cheng U.) commented a
democratic country should not politically interfere with
press freedom, ......，the function of CNA is to strengthen
Taiwan's international publicity, instead of
domestic
propaganda, none to mention
using national resource to enhance political competitiveness.
The distinction
between political forces and comm. media should not be
confused.
Another professor (Normal U.)
stated even
state-level agency should not affect
or interfere with the operation of the
editorial department.
A scholar
(Soochow U) criticized
that the state agency should be "no
color", its function is to provide
world media with Taiwan's info. , instead of
blocking messages or politically
interfering with news reports.
Former leader of GIO stressed that
media has the objectivity &
neutrality,
and should not become government's beautician, the CNA should safeguards national interests,
and upholds the spirits & basic principles of the
media.
〔extracts reports by Reporter Lin Jiaqi, Yi-Ching
Chen / Taipei〕
◎ Mar.
18, 2010
Jane Yu Yan Hao discovered
municipal used taxpayer money
to "pre-audit" news reports.
◎
2010-7-8 Liberty times
The national media
being not
neutral aroused
controversies and
disputes ...
it (or the public media) must get rid of (
to the max ) intervention from the
government or the ruling party; Taiwan's moving to
opposite direction has been caused international concerns.
For
financial independence, French government is hardly influential in
AFP (Agence
France-Presse).
BBC of UK and ＮＨＫ of
Japan are about the same.
French "Supreme Audiovisual Council"
(CSA, similar to Taiwan's NCC)
maintains the minimum
democratic fairness.
蘇永耀／專訪
http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/2010/new/jul/7/today-p4.htm
The
quality
and
sustainability
of
Taiwan's
hard-won
democracy
is
now
being
increasingly
threatened
by
invasive
"embedded advertising"
and
"censorship
without
borders"
from
the
authoritarian
People's
Republic
of
China.
... One
of
the
reasons
cited
by
Freedom
House
for
the
erosion
has
been
the
use
by
the
Ma
administration
of
huge
amounts
of
taxpayer
funds
to
engage
in
"embedded
advertising"
or
promotion
or
propaganda
of
government
policies
packaged
as
"news"
stories
or
features.
...
As a
result
of
embedded
marketing
and
the
frequent
use
of
"news"
stories
to
engage
in
marketing
by
public
as
well
as
private
sector
interests,
the
credibility
of
the
Taiwan
news
media
has
fallen
to
its
lowest
level
since
...
July
1987.
....
However,
an
even
greater
threat
to
news
freedom,
freedom
of
expression
and
the
credibility
of
our
news
media
is
... PRC,
...
is now
actively
exploiting
the
opportunity
posed
by
"cross-strait
reconciliation"
to
buy
influence
in
print
and
broadcast
media
in
Taiwan.
◎
★
<Taiwan News >
Taiwan: How ECFA threatens Taiwan
news freedom, 30 July 2010
Taiwan
will face greater challenges in defending
existing hard-won levels of
news freedom in
the wake of the signing of the controversial
“Cross-Strait Economic Cooperation Framework
Agreement” with the authoritarian ... China.
... a new report
... on the impact of ECFA on Taiwan warned that Taiwan’s
government and citizens cannot ignore the
“contradictions” between the broadcasting
and news media systems of Taiwan and the PRC
......
http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=1333042&lang=eng_news&cate_img=46.jpg&cate_rss=news_Editorial
Public media independence threatened, despite government denials Reporters Without Borders urges President Ma
Ying-jeou to keep his promises to us to respect public media
independence.
◎
★ <Reporters Without Borders>,
Paris, France
Nov. 8,
2008
More than 10 journalists injured during opposition protests
against Chinese visit
Reporters Without Borders deplores the violence against journalists in
Taipei in the course of protests against a visit by a Chinese government
representative during the past few days.
At least 10 journalists were injured during
protests on 6 November by supporters of the opposition
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) against the meeting in
Taipei between President Ma Ying-jeou and Chen Yunlin,
Freedom House Calls for Inquiry into Taiwan Clashes
Freedom House urges Taiwan's government to
create an independent commission to thoroughly investigate
clashes between police and activists protesting Chinese envoy
Chen Yunlin's historic visit and recommend needed reforms. ...
The clashes reveal a need for police to undergo crowd control
training that adheres to the standards used in other
democracies. Likewise, demonstrators and political advocacy
groups must recommit themselves to orderly protests that avoid
violence under any circumstances.
Some comments above are direct translation of extracts/abstract from reports
of Taiwan's major news, for precise meaning pls refer to
Chinese language version
Extract of GIO's reply letter to
ReportersWithoutBorders“The Government Information Office states
that the spirit of the Public Television Act is to protect
the neutrality and objectivity of the media, and that the
purpose of its provisions is to reduce government
intervention to the minimum by respecting the independence
of its board. Respecting the principles of the Public
Television Act, the GIO never strayed from its position of
respect for its spirit of independence and autonomy. It
never intervened in matters of personnel, programme choice
or programme content. Ms. Feng’s statements are at variance
with reality.”
freedom
of speech and of peaceful protest continues to be unduly restricted.
The htm file in my computer has been attacked by pro. hackers for a long time,
therefore 
At
2-22-2018, the dark power (who is
prime suspect ?? Taiwan ?) blocked
my uploading brief file (
