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GIO working on new international PR campaign |
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Taipei Times
CNA , TAIPEI
Sunday, Apr 03, 2005,Page 2
Taiwan is preparing for an international publicity campaign to drum up support for its bid to join the World Health Assembly (WHA), Minister of the Government Information Office (GIO) Pasuya Yao (姚文智) said in an interview on Friday.
Noting that the international community has shown sympathy for Taiwan in the wake of China's enactment of its "Anti-Secession" Law, Yao said it is a good opportunity for Taiwan to translate the world's sympathy into support for Taiwan's efforts to enhance its international profile.
Yao said the publicity campaign will be organized by the National Security Council and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
After the March 26 march which was called to show the country's displeasure with the Anti-Secession Law, Yao said the government is waiting to see how China will respond before formulating Taiwan's policies.
However, Yao said, the GIO has ordered the shooting of several TV commercials which will be aired on foreign TV stations when the time is ripe, Yao said.
These ads, which feature Taiwan's success in checking SARS and the Chinese military threat against Taiwan, are sure to make a strong case for Taiwan's bid to enter international organizations.
In line with the government's policy of prohibiting political parties and government agencies from running TV stations, Yao said the state-owned Taiwan Television Enterprise will be privatalized while state-own Chinese Television System will be converted into a public station which will be merged with Public Television, Hakka Television and Aboriginal Television into a public television group.
The establishment of this public television group to be financed with a government budget should be based on a law which is still being hammered out at the GIO, Yao said.
As to the moving information banners at the bottom of the screen which are used extensively by TV stations to make a pitch for their news about celebrities' sexual scandals and affairs, Yao said he will ask local TV executives in a meeting next week to use crawls only to show important government policies or urgent breaking news before he uses the GIO's power given by law to check it.
Meanwhile, Yao said the GIO will recruit professionals in the fields of marketing and venture-capital to form a task force to promote the nation's digital audio and visual entertainment industry.
Yao said the local entertainment industry has been losing ground in recent years, citing statistics that show that the industry's annual output fell to NT$4.4 billion (US$139.6 million) last year from NT$12 billion in 1997.
Noting that the government recently set a target of producing 100 films a year as part of its efforts to promote the domestic entertainment industry, Yao said the GIO will spend millions of dollars this month to recruit professionals and talented persons in relevant sectors, including production, marketing, copyright law and venture-capital, to form a task force whose aim will be to better the local entertainment industry. |
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