Taipei Times
Date: Nov 02, 2016
By: Chen Yu-fu and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writer
The sudden announcement on Monday evening by China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) that reporters
Members of the Democratic Progressive Party caucus, including caucus chief executive Wu Ping-jui, second right, hold a news conference in Taipei yesterday to remind Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu that she does not have government approval to sign any agreements on behalf of Taiwan during her trip to China. Photo: CNA
from three media organizations would be barred from covering Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu’s (洪秀柱) meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in Beijing yesterday prompted condemnation from Taiwanese lawmakers across the political spectrum.
The three outlets denied press passes were the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper), online media outlet Up Media and the Taiwan branch office of the Mirror, a Hong Kong-based publication.
New Power Party caucus convener Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) said the action highlights the huge difference in press freedoms between Taiwan and China.
“This is censorship of the expression of opinions… When the direction of a news report does not go their way, they just simply cancel it,” Hsu said, calling on Hung to tell Xi that she objects to the decision. [FULL STORY]
