Expelling Mainland Reporters, How Stupid It Was!

Expelling Mainland Reporters, How Stupid It Was!

China Times Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan)

May 8, 2020

 Translation of an Excerpt

The DPP government revoked the press cards and visas of Mainland journalists Ai Kezhu and Lu Qiang from the Southeast China Satellite TV on grounds of being involved in activities not in conformity with the permitted purposes, demanding that they leave the country immediately. This is "self-righteous stupidity", being stupid to the extreme. First, it harms freedom of speech; second, it once again exposes the DPP’s true nature of "picking the easiest prey"; third, this is a "petty tactic”, resulting in an extremely poor perception; fourth, at the worst moment in cross-Strait relations and Sino-US relations, it sends “hostile” signals to Beijing and Mainland populist forces. Is this necessary?

Freedom of expression is the core of "Taiwan values" and the obvious difference between the two systems across the Strait, and also the main reason that many on the Mainland agree that "the most beautiful scenery in Taiwan is people." It is also the most valuable and attractive part of Taiwan’s competition with the Mainland, but because the DPP government was not happy that Blue camp pundits frequented a Southeast Satellite TV talk show, it stabbed right into the heart of freedom of the press. Was it worth it?

What is most dumbfounding is that Lee Yung-te, who yesteryear broke the KMT government ban and went to the Mainland to interview State President Yang Shangkun, has now become a hatchet man destroying cross-Strait exchanges of journalism. A man who brought out a big news story from the Mainland, in the end, has become a terminator of this page of history. For such a man and such a government, how "stupid" could it be?

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