Statement | Condemning China Times' Improper Use of Footage from the Chiu Ho-Shun Support Action and Calling for Corrections

On Human Rights Day, December 10, the Judicial Reform Foundation and other organizations supporting Chiu Ho-Shun (the "support groups") held the action "Silent March Around the Presidential Office: When Will Hai-Wang See Daybreak? - Handcuffed in Solidarity on Human Rights Day, Calling on the President to Pardon Chiu Ho-Shun." Participants marched silently around the Presidential Office with a single demand: that President Tsai Ing-Wen pardon Chiu Ho-Shun and restore the liberty he has been denied for 32 years. The support groups invited the media to cover the action throughout.

Footage shot during the silent march was subsequently used by the China Times in reports about events unrelated to the march and was presented together with unrelated groups (see Evidence 1). The China Times News Network also used footage from the march in its December 11, 2020 report, "Provisional Injunction Denied, Causing Irreparable Harm," improperly linking the march and its demand to the National Communications Commission's decision not to renew CTi News' license (see Evidence 2).

The support groups respect the expression of all viewpoints. We clarify, however, that the silent march had no connection whatsoever with protests organized by the other groups discussed in those reports. By linking the silent march to the NCC's decision not to renew CTi News' license-and by using footage that did not fit the surrounding context of the report-the China Times News Network created the misleading impression that the march was associated with a particular political position. We regret this misrepresentation and formally call on the China Times News Network to correct the relevant reports immediately.

Related Evidence

Evidence 1
December 11, 2020
"Government Celebrates Human Rights Day While We Protest for Human Rights! Veteran Tangwai Figure Condemns Tsai Administration: 'Its Abuses Surpass Chiang Kai-Shek's'"
Link: https://reurl.cc/ldxXDQ (Source: China Times AI News)
Link: https://reurl.cc/MdlDj4 (Source: China Times News Network)

Evidence 2
December 11, 2020
"Provisional Injunction Denied, Causing Irreparable Harm"
Link: https://reurl.cc/pykXvQ (Source: China Times News Network)

Organizations Issuing This Statement

Judicial Reform Foundation
Taiwan Association for Human Rights
Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty
Covenants Watch
Amnesty International Taiwan
Taiwan Innocence Project
Taiwan Innocent Prisoners Action Alliance
International Federation for Human Rights

Press Contact

Chang Chih / Deputy Director, Organization and Advocacy Department, Judicial Reform Foundation