tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post5457445186532546925..comments2023-10-22T18:25:39.688+08:00Comments on The View from Taiwan: AFP in ClassicMichael Turtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17974403961870976346noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-49445339229889823632009-08-30T21:06:00.243+08:002009-08-30T21:06:00.243+08:00More on Louette and AFP.
AFP grew out of the Hava...More on Louette and AFP.<br /><br />AFP grew out of the Havas empire. Charles Havas founded a news agency in France in 1835. The agency AFP appeared starting from the WWII era.<br /><br />Editorially, AFP is governed by a network of senior journalists. By statute, AFP’s mission is to report events, free of “all influences or considerations likely to impair the exactitude” of its news. And “under no circumstances to pass under the legal or actual control of an ideological, political or economic group.”<br /><br />Interesting, eh?Marcnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-4666386770614083882009-08-30T20:58:42.753+08:002009-08-30T20:58:42.753+08:00I have interviewed the organizers of the Mazu pilg...I have interviewed the organizers of the Mazu pilgrimage and they will be the first to tell you that the event has been taken over by "non-religious interests" to drive the tourism industry. Much of the pageantry and pomp is to ensure revenue flow into the politicians pockets who control which groups gets to have a financial piece of the festival. The potential for profits is so great that the politicians and their behind the scenes "brothers" use their positions, not as religious leaders and devotees, but as gatekeepers to a stream of revenue to wield influence and manipulate people/power. The temple and festivities is then used to launder illicit profits and conceal wealth from the tax man. Many of the local KMT bigs use this structure to maintain their fiefdoms and manipulate limited markets for personal, financial gain at the expense of others to maintain an unfair system.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-75281211827271919672009-08-30T18:04:12.808+08:002009-08-30T18:04:12.808+08:00I need to amend my references on Louette. Louette...I need to amend my references on Louette. Louette was CEO of Connect World, a division of Havas. Havas is one of the top media agencies in the world, with its fingers in a lot of pies including China.<br /><br />Louette spent a year in Jakarta and in Tokyo as a student, and from 1989 to 1993 worked in the French General Accounting Office, and in that position he acted as "rapporteur" for the committee that oversees the finances of AFP and also as an auditor in Germany and in Hong Kong.Marcnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-12479383227273003422009-08-30T10:41:06.681+08:002009-08-30T10:41:06.681+08:00The Mazu festival is one of the biggest, home-grow...The Mazu festival is one of the biggest, home-grown Taiwanese events in existence. The pro-greens should be throwing all their support behind it but no, it's a KMT/China conspiracy.<br /><br />I guess the greens are too busy beating up protesters in the south to engage their brains.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-84465948945365228892009-08-30T01:59:28.331+08:002009-08-30T01:59:28.331+08:00I never understand why the international media pic...I never understand why the international media picked those pro-Ma/China professors/analysts to interview. I also don't understand why they (CNN, AP, AFP, Bloomberg, Reuters) tend to write something at the end about China. I suspect by doing so, they can tag the article with china, and taiwan. Unfortunately, even though I am not happy with the international media, I think Taiwan needs them to stop Ma moving too fast to China. It looks like Ma is more concerned about his PR image than anything else. So, we have to work with the 2nd enemy to fight the major enemy.M Chennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-23784822491793854572009-08-30T00:24:34.211+08:002009-08-30T00:24:34.211+08:00According to the website for "Taiwan Best Tri...According to the website for "Taiwan Best Trip" contest, the contestants are more or less required to pay for everything themselves - from airfare to food to accomodation. <br /><br />In the first leg of the contest the KMTourism Bureau will reimburse your daily travel expenses by giving you NT$35,000 less 20% taxes to spend on videotaping your trip for four days. <br /><br />If you're the winning team, you'll pay for your own arifare, food and accomdation for one month, and receive NT$1 million less 20% in taxes.<br /><br />And presumably you're required to use your own video equipment, which must produce high-quality uploads on your blog.<br /><br />ANd if you don't win, and you don't live in Taiwan, you've just spent all your own money doing the KMT's work.<br /><br />Now this is chutzpah!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-90450419893588653852009-08-29T23:55:12.193+08:002009-08-29T23:55:12.193+08:00With articles like these, along with the obviously...With articles like these, along with the obviously orchestrated protests of local political and religious organization it's clear that the lines are now clearly being drawn in the sand.<br /><br />Time to circle the wagons, boys!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-58092441186653033992009-08-29T23:53:29.140+08:002009-08-29T23:53:29.140+08:00Louette of the AFP was Havas Media's former CE...Louette of the AFP was Havas Media's former CEO--that's correct. One correction -- Havas currently represents several mega-multinational corporations in China. <br /><br />Among them are Coca-Cola, Carrefour, BP, Société Génerale, Bank of China, and Goodyear. <br /><br />Havas is also the marketing/ advertising agency for the Shanghai Expo.<br /><br />The current CEO of Havas Media is Vincent Bolloré, a comrade of Louette’s (same university, too). <br /><br />Bolloré, like Louette, is another French media mogul who, in addition to his post at Havas, owns several French media outlets. Bolloré is very cozy with Sarkozy.<br /><br />I've found an online interview with Louette from Chinese TV, and Xinhua has a couple of articles on his ascension to the AFP position -noteworthy only that no other western media moguls seem to warrant Xinhua news attention.<br /><br />Louette started his political career under the conservative government of Prime Minister Edouard Balladur, and also apparently did some work for his government in China.Marcnoreply@blogger.com