VZCZCXYZ0018
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHIN #0579/01 0730816
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 140816Z MAR 07
FM AIT TAIPEI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4443
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 6471
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 7717

UNCLAS AIT TAIPEI 000579 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR INR/R/MR, EAP/TC, EAP/PA, EAP/PD - LLOYD NEIGHBORS 
DEPARTMENT PASS AIT/WASHINGTON 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC KMDR KPAO TW
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: THE REPORT OF VICE PRESIDENT ANNETTE LU BY 
AP AND CNN 
 
 
¶1.  Summary:  Taiwan's newspapers March 14 focused their coverage on 
the second round of negotiations chaired by President Chen 
Shui-bian, in which the four DPP bigwigs agreed to accept 
negotiations; participate in debates; and not withdraw from the 
party or run on their own if they are not nominated by the party as 
candidates for the 2008 presidential election.  The other focus for 
today is the raids conducted by Taoyuan prosecutors at BenQ's 
headquarters in Taipei and its factory in Taoyuan in an attempt to 
investigate an alleged insider trading case. 
 
¶2.  In terms of editorials and commentaries, the pro-independence 
"Taiwan News" editorialized that Vice President Annette Lu correctly 
filed sharp and correct protests to CNN and AP over the articles, 
but the response of the DPP camp to "expel" the AP reporter has 
seriously damaged the resolve of the DPP camp to defend one of its 
core values, i.e. '100 percent of news freedom.'  An editorial in 
the pro-unification, English-language "China Post" also said that 
some DPP legislators' proposal to 'expel' the AP reporter is unwise 
and unproductive.  The editorial also elaborated on the role of AP 
in the international media and drew the distinction between CNN.com 
from CNN.  End summary. 
 
¶3.  The report of Annette Lu in the AP and CNN 
 
A) "No Compromise on Press Freedom" 
 
The pro-independence, English-language "Taiwan News" [circulation: 
20,000] editorialized that (03/14): 
 
"Last week's flap over the controversial coverage by Cable News 
Network (CNN) and The Associated Press of Vice President Annette 
Lu's announcement of her bid for the presidency has seemingly ended 
with expressions of regret by both media and promises to offer more 
balanced reporting in the future. 
 
"Unfortunately, few commentators have paid adequate attention to how 
narrowly Taiwan's own reputation for news freedom and human rights 
ducked a self-inflicted bullet. 
 
"There is no doubt that primary responsibility for the controversy 
rests with CNN, which added an insulting headline - [Taiwan's 'scum 
of the nation' runs for president] - to the AP story on Lu's March 7 
press conference that carried Hong Kong-based reporter Min Lee's 
byline. 
 
"Lu correctly filed sharp and correct protests to CNN and AP over 
the articles, but the response of the DPP camp dangerously went off 
the tracks Thursday morning when DPP caucus whip Wang Sing-nan, 
saying that the language used in Lee's story was 'a terrible insult 
to any normal person as well as to the Taiwan people,' declared he 
would demand Foreign Minister James Huang and Government Information 
Office Minister Cheng Wen-tsang 'resign if they do not take action 
to expel the reporter from the country.' 
 
"Wang and four other DPP lawmakers stood up and waved their fists, 
demanding Min Lee to 'Get Out!' Lawmakers from the Taiwan Solidarity 
Union followed suit shortly afterward. 
 
"In the end, Min Lee was not expelled, but there is no need for 
Taiwan policy makers or democrats to indulge in self-congratulation 
over this welcome result. 
 
"After all, the events of Thursday exposed a grave lack of 
resolution in the DPP camp to defend one of its most absolute 
values, that of '100 percent news freedom' for which the late 
Freedom Era Weekly editor Cheng Nan-jung gave his life in April 1989 
and which President Chen himself has declared is more important than 
national security. 
 
"Frankly, we believe that the demand raised by the five DPP 
lawmakers for Lee's expulsion from Taiwan because of the content of 
his article was reprehensible and no less 'terrible' or insulting to 
Taiwan's democracy. 
 
"We believe that it is simply inadmissible in a democratic country 
to call for the denial or restriction of news gathering rights for a 
reporter or the expulsion of a person from a country for the content 
of what she or he has written. The proper course is open rebuttal, 
protest or, if necessary, a libel suit. 
 
"This lack of resolution allowed speculation about the possibility 
of such an action to persist for several hours Thursday and had 
already inflicted damage on the DPP's reputation. 
 
"...  We reaffirm our calls on domestic and international media to 
exercise professional quality and self-discipline to improve the 
quality and accuracy of their Taiwan coverage. But we no less 
earnestly urge the DPP government and party and its leaders never to 
AP AND CNN 
 
forget how fragile Taiwan's reputation for human rights and news 
freedom is and act to ensure that such a shameful display will never 
happen again. 
 
"The most important lesson is that commitment to fundamental 
political and moral values is most decisively demonstrated when such 
defense is at its most difficult." 
 
B) "Leave the AP Alone" 
 
The pro-unification, English language "China Post" [circulation: 
30,000] said in its editorial (03/14): 
 
"In recent days, a furor has erupted over the treatment of Vice 
President Annette Lu by the foreign press. 
 
"... The story and headline prompted outrage from Lu, and many 
lawmakers in Lu's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) have demanded 
the government expel the AP reporter who wrote the story. 
 
"In our view, taking such actions would be extremely unwise and 
unproductive.  Rather than further ruin our democratic reputation by 
getting into confrontations with the international news media, our 
politicians should try to understand better how the international 
press operates. 
 
"Indeed, this entire controversy is based around commonly held 
misunderstandings and misperceptions about the foreign news media. 
 
"Perhaps most importantly, our politicians have a fundamental 
misunderstanding about what the AP actually is. 
 
"The AP is not itself a media outlet, but rather a supplier of 
content to media outlets that pay a fee to subscribe to its service. 
 The AP supplies stories to its clients, who can then change the 
content and add their own headlines, depending on how much space is 
available. 
 
"Vice President Lu's demand that AP interview her is therefore 
ridiculous, since the AP's clients can simply choose not to run such 
a story anyhow. 
 
"... In addition, there is widespread confusion about the U.S.-based 
CNN. 
 
"The media outlet than ran the 'scum' headline, CNN.com, is not 
exactly what we would ordinarily think of as 'CNN.'  CNN.com is just 
the part of CNN that manages the network's web page content. 
 
"It seems that anything carrying the CNN brand is the cause of 
ceaseless amazement to Taiwan's politicians, who are wither 
delighted or furious their names have been 'on CNN.' 
 
"These people don't realize that there are a wide variety of 
operations bearing CNN's name.  ..." 
 
YOUNG