ESWN on AP's Use of Beijing Propaganda

ESWN comments on the flap over the AP's use of CCP propaganda as an important component of their story on Annette Lu joining the race for the Presidency in 2008 (original story). ESWN writes:

[022]The "Scum of the Nation" Story (03/09/2007) (UDN via Yahoo! News) Here is the initial official reaction after the AP/CNN story which cited identified persons who called Taiwan vice-president Annette Lu 'insane' and 'scum of the nation' (see Comment 200703#014). The Democratic Progressive Party and the Taiwan Solidarity Union both demanded the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Government Information Office to cancel the AP reporter Li Min's visa and expel him out of Taiwan. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Government Information that they will do so quickly and the police will ask Li to depart. However, a person involved in diplomacy pointed out that an expulsion may raise international concerns over freedom of press in Taiwan.

The Taipei Times has the complete story on the abrupt about-face. The correspondent, Li Min, was from Hong Kong and his biases were on full display, recovering remarks about Lu made eight years ago and referring to "Beijing's sacred view" that it can annex Taiwan and murder Taiwanese to do so. The AP story also worked in the completely irrelevant tale of the Blue supporter who shot Lu and Chen the day before the 2004 election, setting off the KMT ("the opposition") claim that it was a conspiracy in a single, separate sentence for emphasis. The story wasn't all bad, but the biases of the writer are obvious.

ESWN observes that "identified persons" made the remarks. Who cares? Propaganda is propaganda, whether sources are identified or not. Those remarks should not have been in either the headline or the opening paragraph, where they help shape reader perception of the remainder of the document and of Lu herself. The issue is not even that propaganda was used; the real issue is the way that the international media constantly reaches for Beijing in defining Taiwan. Why didn't the lead paragraph reference Lu's career, a formidable one as an activist, feminist, and politician? Why wasn't a story on a Taiwan person centered on Taiwan? Is that too much to ask?

ESWN then reminds us who the first foreign reporter to be expelled from Taiwan was...

Here is a history lesson. Who was the first foreign correspondent to be expelled from Taiwan? In 1981, there was the shocking case of Carnegie Mellon University assistant professor Chen Wen-chen who was found dead on the campus ground of National Taiwan University. This was an international incident, due to the disagreement between the authorities and the Chen family about the cause of death. Chen's bruised and battered body was discovered on July 2, 1981 on the campus of National Taiwan University after he had been taken away by the Taiwan Garrison General Headquarters on the previous day. The garrison headquarters
initially claimed that Chen had committed suicide because he feared being arrested for crimes, but changed its account the following day, saying that he had died in an accident. Eventually, the Taiwan authorities acceded to the Chen family's demand to have an American forensic doctor come to Taiwan to examine the body.

In her report, Associated Press reporter Tina Chou used the word 'autopsy' instead of 'examination.' The Taiwan Government Information Office believed that the word 'autopsy' damaged the sovereignty and dignity of Taiwan and demanded a written apology. When AP did not respond in a timely manner, the Government Information Office canceled Tina Chou's press license and expelled her from Taiwan. By the way, the head of the Taiwan Information Office at the time was none other than James Soong.

Tina Chou's account of this affair is somewhat different -- the problem was that the authorities claimed that she had filed an "untruthful" report. Because Chen had died during an intelligence investigation, probably after being thrown from a upper story window, the authorities did not want the word "autopsy," with its implication of foul play, used in the story. Chou was the first Taiwanese ever employed as a foreign journalist in Taiwan, also with the AP. Chou describes:

To rationalize the action against me, the government told the Legislative Yuan that my autopsy report was a fabrication by a foreign news agency and living proof that foreign imperialism once again was plotting to manipulate the Republic of China! With TV reporters told to expect and report this address to the Parliament, the official lamented previous imperialistic invasions and interferences in China, vowing to protect Taiwan from further advances.

One of the more ironic and insidious propaganda moves of the anti-Taiwan crowd is to claim that Chen Shui-bian and the current DPP leadership is as bad as the KMT. Here ESWN juxtaposes the tale of Li Min and Tina Chou, as if there was some equivalence. But the differences are key: Tina Chou was an accredited journalist, originally from Taiwan, expelled for telling the truth, and her career in Taiwan was impaired for years afterwards. Li Min was not expelled -- the difference between an authoritarian state and a democracy is this accountability that permits cooler heads to prevail -- and his transgression was abusing his position as a journalist to repeat someone else's propaganda, to paint a tale about Annette Lu. There's no equivalence between individuals who speak truth and individuals who repeat the lies of others. In the final analysis, that Li Min is still in Taiwan is simply further evidence of the vast difference between the pro-Taiwan and the pro-China crowd.

UPDATE: As the TIME blog shows, the international media just don't get it.

[Taiwan] [ESWN] [media]