Taipei, March 26 (CNA) Taiwan's newspapers and politicians continued to trade barbs in a dispute over translation of an analysis from a foreign financial group that made comments on the 2012 presidential election.
The analysis, titled "Taiwan Strategy" and containing a subtitle reading "The KMT as its own enemy," was written by analyst Bruce Warden of Hong Kong-based Credit Lyonnais Securities Asia (CLSA) Asia-Pacific Markets, a brokerage and investment group.
Citing the analysis, the Chinese-language Liberty Times daily reported Wednesday that the firm had predicted a 2012 re-election loss for President Ma Ying-jeou, who doubles as the ruling Kuomintang's (KMT's) chairman.
The CLSA report said: "We maintain the view we proposed last June, that the 2012 presidential election is the KMT's to lose. The Ma administration's China policy has broad enough public support that it should be able carry the 2012 election on its own merits." It went on to say: "However, we also believe that 'it would likely require some self-inflicted wound for the KMT to lose in 2012' and events of recent months highlight the ease with which this can happen." The headline of the Liberty Times' Wednesday front page read: "Ma will lose 2012 election: CLSA." By Wednesday night the story was reported and commented on by other local newspapers, Internet forums and television political talk shows, with opposition Democratic Party (DPP) citing the "prediction" while criticizing the Ma administration.
KMT legislator Wu Yu-sheng told a press conference Thursday that the newspaper had mistranslated the analysis.
CLSA also issued a statement in Chinese and English Thursday correcting the Liberty Times story and said the newspaper "obtained and used this report without permission." "The view we proposed in our June 2009 report 'KMT in the driver's seat' is that the 2012 presidential election is the KMT's to lose. This means the report does not predict President Ma Ying-jeou will lose the election," the statement said.
The Chinese-language United Daily News daily ran a front-page story Friday headlined "CLSA misquoted by Liberty Times" although it had also carried a story on the CLSA analysis Thursday that was titled "CLSA's bold prediction: Ma to lose 2012 re-election." The Liberty Times published a story Friday in which it invited a university professor to review its translation and the CLSA analysis word by word, but did not admit it had made a translation error in its original report Wednesday.
It's not unusual for Taiwanese newspapers to lash out at competitors' mistakes amid fierce domestic competition and tense debate over political issues.
Taiwan's newspapers and political parties often quote reports and columns from foreign newspapers as well as analyses by foreign think tanks or politicians when covering domestic political issues. (By Chris Wang) enditem/bc