DPP supports HK reform

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday urged Beijing to respect the result of an ongoing “illegal” referendum on democratic reform, that has drawn nearly 650,000 votes since it opened online, as it voiced support for Hong Kongers’ aspiration for democracy and reform. “As the referendum is ongoing, we think that more people will cast their votes. This has been a victory for all Hong Kongers. We call for Beijing to respect the result and Hong Kongers’ expression of their ideals in a peaceful and rational manner,” Department of China Affairs director Chao Tien-lin (趙天麟) said. The DPP has been watching the situation in Hong Kong closely, not only because Taiwan paid a dear price en route to attaining democracy but also because democracy, human rights and liberty are universal values, Chao said.

DPP tells Beijing to respect HK rights

PAPER TIGER:The party made the call after China’s State Council issued a paper on the limits to the territory’s freedom seen as a warning against a pro-democracy protest
By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter with Reuters, HONG KONG

The Chinese government should respect the right of Hong Kongers to enjoy basic liberties and pursue freedoms, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday.

The DPP’s remarks came hours after China warned Hong Kong that there were limits to the territory’s freedom and said that it should adhere strictly to the law ahead of a planned pro-democracy protest that could end up shutting down part of the territory’s Central District.

DPP voices concern over pre-June 4 clampdown in PRC

By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday expressed concern over Beijing’s detention and conviction of several dissidents before the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre.

“Liberty, democracy and human rights are universal values that know no borders... The people of Taiwan will be watching [Beijing],” Honigmann Hong (洪財隆), director of the DPP’s Department of China Affairs, said in a press release.

EDITORIAL: Internal and external media threats

Tue, Mar 04, 2014 - Page 8

Ask anyone their opinion of Taiwanese media and you would get answers of all kinds — from interesting, dynamic and competitive to brain-dead, unprofessional and lacking in global perspective.

The truth may lie somewhere in between, but the discussion of Taiwanese media and its challenges would have to include growing Chinese influence and the local industry’s struggle between commercial success and core journalistic values.

EDITORIAL: Fighting the ‘point of no return’

While Taiwan has always been proud of its press freedom and many people in Taiwan would even go as far as saying that Taiwanese media is “too free,” recent developments surrounding in the local media environment suggest otherwise.

This is why those who work in the media industry found Sunday — Journalists’ Day, the annual day that pays tribute to their profession — difficult to celebrate.

Tsai urges diverse cross-strait approach

FENCE SITTING:Tsai Ing-wen also said it is too early to say if she would run in the next presidential election, but that she would continue to make herself an ‘option’
By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

Cross-strait relations should be dealt with under a multilateral or regional framework because Taiwan’s small yet advanced economy would very likely be absorbed and superseded by China’s larger economy, former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said in an interview with Radio Television Hong Kong.

“If we dealt with the issues of free trade or free-trade agreements with a perspective based on the whole of Asia, things would be different. We would see the ‘balance effect’ we want to see in Taiwan’s engagement in regional economic integration,” Tsai said in the interview which aired in Hong Kong and southern China on Friday.

HK serves as warning, academic says

WAKEUP CALL:Chen Yi-chi told a seminar that even as Hong Kong is trying to break away from Beijing’s ‘one country, two systems’ lies, Taiwan is throwing itself to China
By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

The rising localization movement and desperate calls for democratization in Hong Kong serve as a warning to Taiwan, where Sinicization and the weakening localization movement were grave concerns, an academic said yesterday on the eve of the 16th anniversary of the territory’s handover to China.

“The situation in almost every aspect of life in Hong Kong has gotten so bad that Hong Kong independence — for which support remains very weak, however — has been mentioned among the people,” said Chen Yi-chi (陳奕齊), a doctoral candidate at University of Leiden in the Netherlands.

Hsieh wraps up cross-strait forum in HK

PROPER CONDUCT:The former premier said that despite the importance of bilateral exchanges, it was important for the DPP and the CCP to keep an ‘appropriate’ distance
By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

Former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday closed a forum on cross-strait relations in Hong Kong by saying that mutual trust was important between the DPP and Beijing and that all bilateral exchanges should benefit the public and address their needs.

In his closing remarks to the two-day forum titled “Development and innovation of cross-strait relations,” Hsieh reiterated the importance of rebalancing cross-strait interactions, which have been narrowed down to interactions between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Former premier arrives in Hong Kong for forum

By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

Former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) arrived in Hong Kong yesterday for a two-day forum on cross-strait affairs hoping to foster closer engagement between the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

The forum, co-organized by Hsieh’s Taiwan Reform Foundation and the Institute of Taiwan Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, one of Beijing’s major Taiwan-related think tanks, will be held today and tomorrow. Academics from both sides of the Strait, as well as nine DPP lawmakers, are expected to attend.

DPP, Cabinet argue over Taiwan’s ‘miserable state’

By Chris Wang and Shih Hsiu-chuan  /  Staff reporters
 
Tue, Sep 25, 2012 - Page 1

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers and the Executive Yuan yesterday engaged in a war of words about whether Taiwan had become “the most miserable country in the Four Asian Tigers,” as reported in the media.

After the unemployment rate last month rose to 4.4 percent, the Chinese-language Apple Daily reported yesterday that Taiwan’s “misery index,” the sum of the unemployment rate and the inflation rate, was now at 7.82, the highest among the four Asian Tigers — South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan.

Its front-page article was headlined: “Taiwan becomes the most miserable country.”

Tsai urges Hong Kongers to take part in elections

By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

Former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday urged Hong Kongers to vote in the semi-autonomous city’s legislative elections on Sunday to “empower” a democracy which was once the pride of the region.

In an editorial piece published yesterday in Hong Kong’s Apple Daily, Tsai praised the former British colony and said it once served as the inspiration for Taiwan’s democratic movement.

Taiwan should heed HK lessons: panel discussion

‘HONG KONG-IZATION’:Chinese dissident Wang Dan said Taiwan was following the same path as Hong Kong before the handover, and to make civil movement allies
By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

Taiwan has paid too little attention to the civil movement in Hong Kong and could be the next in line to be absorbed by Beijing if the trend continues, politicians and political observers said at a panel discussion in Taipei yesterday.

Hong Kong, which was handed back to China by the UK in 1997, could serve as a perfect example for Taiwan in its efforts to defy Chinese political pressure and influence, said Wang Dan (王丹), a Chinese dissident who now teaches at National Tsinghua University in Hsinchu.

Chen merits proper care: Tsai Ing-wen

TRIP TO CHINA?Tsai said she would be happy to visit China, as long as there are no conditions attached, but the lack of an invite shows Beijing’s stance toward her
By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

The establishment of a medical team with credibility and expertise to look after imprisoned former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) would be in the interests of the country and society, former Democratic Progressive Party chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday.

Tsai made the remarks on the sidelines of a DPP event in Miaoli City in response to media inquiries following reports on Chen’s ill health.

Hong Kongers rue Chinese rule

By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

Taiwanese academics and Hong Kong students find it hard to agree with Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤), who said yesterday on the 15th anniversary of Hong Kong’s 1997 handover to China that the “one country, two systems (一國兩制)” design was “the best solution.”

“Are Hong Kong people happy with the arrangement after 15 years? It appears the answer is negative,” said Lin Wen-cheng (林文程), a professor at National Sun Yat-sen University in Kaohsiung. “While Hong Kong is a designated Special Administrative Region, its people know very well that Beijing is the boss and calls all the shots. People have no say in direct elections or over the influx of Chinese citizens.”

Taiwan's 'golden pair' makes Hong Kong Badminton Open final

Taipei, Dec. 11 (CNA) Taiwan's Cheng Wen-hsing and Chien Yu-chin, the world's top-ranked women's doubles badminton team, beat a Russian duo Saturday to advance to the women's doubles finals of the Yonex-Sunrise Hong Kong Open Super Series 2010.

The top-seeded pair rallied from a set down to pull off an 18-21, 21-12, 21-13 win against third seeds Valeria Sorokina and Nina Vislova at Queen Elizabeth Stadium.

Cheng and Chien will meet the winner of the other semifinal being played Saturday night -- an all-Chinese battle pitting Pan Pan and Tian Qing against Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yang -- in Sunday's final.

Chien was also to team with Lee Sheng-mu in the mixed doubles semifinal to be played later Saturday against fifth seeds Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei of China.

The "golden pair" regained the top spot in the Badminton World Federation (BWF) women's doubles ranking in early October, the first time they were ranked first in the world since January 2008.

The Hong Kong Open is the last of the 12-tournament Super Series, which compiles a separate Super Series Standings. Cheng and Chien are currently also ranked first in Super Series women's doubles.

The top eight men's and women's singles, doubles and mixed doubles players and teams will be invited to compete in the BWF Super Series Finals 2010, which will be held in Taipei Jan. 5-9, 2011. (By Chris Wang) enditem/ls

Tiaoyutais controversy heats up

Taipei, Sept. 11 (CNA) Activists from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao said Saturday that they plan to protest to demand Taiwanese fishing rights around the disputed Tiaoyutai Islands amid a fresh confrontation between China and Japan over the group of islets.

Activists could set sail from a fishing port in northern Taiwan "within days" -- as early as Sunday -- for the islands, located 190 km east of Taiwan, said Huang Hsi-lin, executive director of the Chung Hwa Baodiao Alliance, a local organization supporting Taiwan's sovereignty over the territory, on the sidelines of a forum on the Tiaoyutai issue.

Taiwan, China and Japan all claim sovereignty over the islands, known as the Diaoyutai in China and as the Senkaku Islands in Japan, which administers the island group. A Sept. 7 collision between a Chinese fishing boat and two Japanese patrol ships near the disputed area sparked a new wave of controversy and diplomatic tension between China and Japan.

Despite Taiwan's claim and support from President Ma Ying-jeou, who sent a congratulatory message to the forum, Huang said that it appears the Taiwanese government is trying to prevent activists from staging a protest.

"Security checks in several fishing ports have been tightened and boat owners have been discouraged by the authorities from chartering their boats to us, " he said, adding that the activists have been "forced to keep their plans private."

Huang said the protest aims to "highlight the fishing rights of Taiwanese fishermen in Tiaoyutai waters" rather than sovereignty, an issue which he said can only be resolved by official multilateral negotiations.

Given that some ports have been "basically sealed off, " along with heavy seas in the area, the protesters decided to announce the time and location of their departure only at the last minute, Huang said, adding that the protest could be canceled altogether if the government prohibits vessels from leaving port.

Seven members of Hong Kong's Diaoyu Protection Action Committee and activists from Macao plan to join their Taiwanese partners for the protest, said Miutak Chan, president of the committee.

Meanwhile, Chinese activists were scheduled to leave the southeastern Chinese port of Xiamen for the islands Sunday for a protest, according to Chan.

Activists at the forum called for Ma and Chinese President Hu Jintao to take a "stronger stance" against Japan over the disputed islands. (By Chris Wang) ENDITEM/J

Media challenges discussed at international conference

Hong Kong, April 27 (CNA) Media members taking part in an international conference Tuesday discussed possible new models for the media business, which is facing enormous challenges in the Internet age.

Items such as "free vs. subscription, " the fierce competition for readership and advertising dollars and the "rethinking of the media" were discussed by participants in a debate titled "Sustainable Media Models in the Internet Age" on the second day of the 2010 International Media Conference, organized by the U.S. Congress-funded East-West Center.

Joshua Benton, Director of Nieman Journalism Lab at Harvard University, noted that it is difficult for traditional media to be profitable in an age in which fewer people read print news.

Since 2006, one-third of newsroom jobs in the U.S. have been cut, he said.

While the average time spent on a news website per user averages between 2-8 minutes per month, Benton said, the same stats for the social website Facebook is 7 hours per month.

According to Benton, most news organizations lack technical expertise and their newsrooms tend to insist on sticking with traditions, which hampers much-needed adjustment.

Benton said that a good model for increasing revenues would be to publish newspapers only two or three times per week, charging NT$315 (US$10) per paper. That way, he said, readers would be interested in news content because there would be increasing segregation between printed material and web content.

Thomas Crampton, a former New York Times journalist, said the emergence of social media such as blogs, and services such as Facebook and Twitter, have caused a structural impact, as the barrier of entry has become extremely low, while some advertisers no longer deal with the print media at all.

Charging readers does not sound like a good idea because "a lot of people will be happy with the free alternatives, " he said.

In terms of the negative impact suffered by the emergence of the Internet, the media business is a lot like the music industry, Crampton went on.

He advised the media to pay attention to the three pillars of "print, online and in-person, " which means media companies should provide their news stories online and in print, and should probably organize real-life events to create closer bonds and better communication with readers.

Reginald Chua, editor-in-chief of the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post, said the media suffers because the revenue it receives from advertisements and subscriptions and the costs of news production do not match.

Chua urged the media to think hard about how to generate revenue, how to change its way of telling stories, how the newsroom can help with reporting and how to restructure the newsroom, which according to him has not changed much since the 1950s. (By Chris Wang) ENDITEM/J

Scholars debate ECFA's pros and cons

Taipei, April 23 (CNA) Scholars debated the possible benefits and disadvantages of a proposed cross-Taiwan Strait trade agreement at a seminar Friday in a possible preview of Sunday's showdown on the issue between President Ma Ying-jeou and the head of the main opposition party.

The seminar gathered university professors and researchers who both support and oppose the signing of an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) between Taiwan and China, which Ma said he hopes to sign in June to prevent Taiwan from being economically marginalized in the region.

The 150-minute debate appeared to be a warm-up before Ma and opposition Democratic Progressive Party Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen meet in a much-anticipated nationally televised debate on the ECFA.

If Taiwan does not take advantage of the China market, the world's biggest market, it will be hard to make up for the "lost decade, " said Daniel Liu, a senior researcher at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER).

He was referring to the period between 2000-2010 during which Taiwan failed to participate in Asian economic integration, especially in East Asia.

Liu, who supports the trade pact, addressed at length objections raised by the opposition to the deal, such as the possible influx of cheap Chinese labor, its negative impact on agriculture and the pact's potential triggering of lower wages in Taiwan based on factor-price equalization theory.

The ECFA will be able to improve stability across the strait and be the starting point of the institutionalization of cross-strait relations, he said, arguing that the agreement "may not be the only way, but it will be an effective way to improve Taiwan's economy." Wang To-far, a professor of economics at National Taipei University who opposes the ECFA, described it as China's first step toward enticing Taiwan to move toward an eventual "one-China market" and economic integration before reaching its ultimate goal of political integration.

Wang argued that the government had exaggerated the benefits of the deal without mentioning its possible adverse impact on employment and specific sectors, and voiced concerns that the excessive reliance of Taiwan's investment and exports on China's market would compromise the country's "economic sovereignty" in the future.

Lin Chu-chia, a professor of economics at National Chengchi University, was more concerned, however, about the political tone of the arguments on the issue.

"It seems to me that most people who support the agreement support it for economic reasons, and people who are against the pact oppose it for political reasons, " he said.

"As an economist, I think we have to be rational and we have a responsibility to tell the people what they're facing, " Lin said. "Unfortunately, the discussion of this important agreement hasn't been rational in Taiwan." (By Chris Wang) enditem/ls

Process for U.K. passport applications to change: BTCO

Taipei, April 16 (CNA) From May 17, United Kingdom passport applications for British nationals will no longer be handled by the British Trade and Cultural Office (BTCO) and will need to be sent directly by the applicant to a regional passport processing center in Hong Kong, the UK's representative office in Taiwan announced Friday in a press release.

The office will no longer accept passport applications from British nationals, said the BTCO, Britain's official authority in Taiwan in the absence of bilateral diplomatic ties.

Previously, the BTCO acted as a middleman for British passport applications in Taipei, accepting the applications, sending them to the issuing authorities in Hong Kong, and then issuing the passport to the applicant.

According to the BTCO, the changes are part of a global initiative to streamline the issuance of passports overseas.

The Passport Processing Center in Hong Kong, which will produce and return passports directly to applicants in Taiwan, aims to issue all new passports within 10 working days, the office said.

If British nationals need to travel urgently, however, the BTCO will still be able to issue emergency travel documents. (By Chris Wang) ENDITEM/J

Taiwan media, politicians trade barbs over botched translation

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