Taiwan's vice president insists on apology from CNN, AP

Mar 7, 2007, 6:43 GMT

   Taipei - Taiwan Vice President Annette Lu, angry at being called 'insane' and 'scum of the nation' in a CNN broadcast and in an Associated Press (AP) story that quoted an attack by China, demanded an apology Wednesday from both media outlets.

   'I will not easily let it pass,' she said. 'This is something our future leader must do to defend national dignity. I hope our people can support me.'

    Lu said she would send a 'serious letter' to the AP and would ask the Foreign Ministry and the Government Information Office to investigate the matter 'because it could happen again.'

   Lu was referring to a CNN newscast on March 6 on her registration for the ruling Democratic Progressive Party's primary for the 2008 presidential election. The newscast used an AP story that said Beijing had called Lu 'insane' and 'scum of the nation.'

   The CNN broadcast used 'Taiwan's scum to run for president' in its headline although that was not the AP story's headline, but CNN later changed it to 'Lu seeks to be first Taiwan woman president' after Lu's office protested.

On Tuesday, a statement from Lu's office only protested to CNN and said Lu expected CNN to make a formal apology to herself and Taiwan's people. It added she hadn't ruled out seeking damages.

   Premier Su Tseng-chang on Wednesday also criticized the foreign media for using China's insulting words to describe Lu.

'I phoned her this morning and told her that she has been insulted,' Su told reporters. 'China uses words to insult and humiliate our leaders. If foreign media quote these words, it is very unfair and very wrong.'

Lu concurred Wednesday, saying, 'This is certainly not a personal matter.

'Many foreign reporters were sent over from Beijing or Hong Kong,' she told reporters while attending a Buddhist ceremony Wednesday in Taipei. 'Their thinking totally reflects the thinking of Beijing authorities, and their reports have seriously damaged our national image.'

   Other foreign news agencies have also reported the descriptions of Lu in the past, but she has not protested before.

    Lu, 63, a former dissident and lawmaker, angered China by openly declaring that Taiwan and China are two countries and condemning China's missile threats against Taiwan as terrorism, prompting China's Taiwan expert Liu Jiayan to brand her 'scum of the nation' in a 2002 article.