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Taiwan Authorities Urged to Resume Rotating of Xinhua Station Reporters in Taiwan
The Taiwan authorities were urged Monday to resume the rotating of Xinhua station reporters in Taiwan at an early date.
The application for doing routine reports on the province by Xinhua News Agency reporters was refused by Taiwan authorities without reason right before the sixth group of Xinhua staff reporters were ready to leave for the island in mid-July.
The interruption is obviously is far away from the expectations of people across the Straits and has drawn the attention and created dissatisfaction from media across the Straits, especially the Mainland media.
People are convinced that they should doubt the so-called sincerity and goodwill of the Taiwan authorities to push forward exchanges between Mainland and Taiwan media.
Over the past decade the Mainland has been increasingly open to Taiwan reporters. There are eight Taiwan media organizations, which have been approved to send rotating journalists to the Mainland since 1996. More than 5,000 Taiwan reporters have come to the Mainland under this rotating system. By contrast, only a few reporters from the Mainland were allowed to do news coverage in Taiwan.
Under the pressure of people's discontent with the unbalanced exchange, the Taiwan authorities announced in November 2000 that they would allow Mainland reporters to go to Taiwan to do reporting work.
Although the Taiwan authorities have raised some unreasonable restrictions on Mainland station reporters, Xinhua News Agency sent its first group of reporters to Taiwan on February 8, 2001 with the purpose of enhancing mutual understanding between the people across the Straits.
A total of 10 reporters in five groups have been sent to Taiwan to date. The more than 300 stories written and 140 pictures taken by them have given specific coverage of the politics, economy, society and local customs in Taiwan.
The reports were widely received by people across the Straits and helped people across the Straits understand each other better.
It is a pity, however, that some of the reports were criticized by several people with the Taiwan authority, which was incomprehensible even to Taiwan reporters who have never had such problems for years on the Mainland.
The application of the sixth group of reporters is in accordance with the required procedures. But the Taiwan authorities still refused to grant an approval by saying that it would control the total amount of reporters from the Mainland.
The normal rotation was thus suspended as the fifth group of Xinhua reporters left Taiwan. News reporting rule requires continuity and completeness, which are especially true for an influential news agency like Xinhua.
The interruption will affect not only Xinhua's normal coverage, but also the hard-won progress made in press exchange across the Straits. The Taiwan authorities should be take responsibility for the possible consequence.
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