Administrative Impartiality -- Pipe Dream and Reality Check

馬政府身邊大臣，大多是留美的菁英或博士學者，或許他們高深的學養對英文的吸收和領悟力勝過中文

Administrative Impartiality

             -- Pipe Dream and Reality Check

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行政中立的奢望與失望
http://www.peopo.org/portal.php?op=viewPost&articleId=49039 發表後，有移民美國的朋友來信，希望作者能將他翻成英文版，以便讓認不得多少中文字的小留學生也能學習關心和瞭解台灣的現況。這是個好意見，今後重要議題值得作此嘗試和努力。

這樣做或許可以得到一個意想不到的效果，馬政府身邊大臣，大多是留美的菁英或博士學者，或許他們高深的學養對英文的吸收和領悟力勝過中文。當然，如果他們對於英文版的用字或詞義有所指教，也歡迎他們用英文回應。

以下是『行政中立的奢望與失望』的英譯全文：
 

Administrative Impartiality -- Pipe Dream and Reality Check

One o’clock in the morning of December 29, 2009 is the darkest moment in the history of Taiwan’s public broadcasting. Brazenly flaunting their tight control of the Taiwan Broadcasting System (TBS), government-appointed board directors replaced its chairman Mr. Tung-Liao Cheng, who had led the well-run organization that just garnered 70% of this year’s Golden Bell Awards, under the bizarre context of his being “unsuitable” for the position.  Some may consider this merely  a case of routine reshuffling of personnel, that no one should be alarmed while in fact it is the death knell of Taiwanese public television‘s aspiration to be free and impartial!

In recent years, the TBS, under the dedicated leadership of Chairman Cheng, has been the only untainted TV outlet left in Taiwan. It has resisted the corrosive influences of sex, violence and politics and produced many high-quality programs in accordance with its mission of promoting public interest.  Taiwan has been through a marital law era, the White Terror, and one-party dictatorship. Thanks to the struggles and sacrifices of countless democracy advocates, Taiwan has moved on. However, just when we feel blessed with the arrival of a new era of democracy and free open media, the Government Information Office, defying public opinions and ignoring the censure from the Control Yuan, improperly enlarged the board with new political appointees to gain majority and forced out the Chairman. Its intention is crystal clear: to control the media for the sake of returning to the bad old days when media were monopolized and no dissenting voices were allowed to exist.  From now on, we can expect to see that obsequious reporting on government policies will be encouraged while critical advices and analyses suppressed. It becomes apparent that any lingering expectation of administrative impartiality from this government is just an illusion!

In principle, the public television, as a non-profit organization (NPO), ought to keep itself above politics. The current administration, rather than addressing its own shortcomings and ineptitude, opts to focus its attention on blocking fair, balanced reporting with the false hope that dissenting opinions can be chocked off via media control. It is also very disappointing that members of the National Communications Commission (NCC), faced with the unfair and unjust usurpation that is detrimental to its mission of protecting the integrity of independent media, see no evil and fail to speak out.

When “administrative impartiality” is just a mirage, it signifies that our beautiful island has morphed into a new kingdom, where we can expect the ensuing elimination of opposition by all political means and silencing of  dissenting voices against various policies. Those of us who care about this land and are on guard against abusive governance will face increasingly difficult times. For those believers of NPO, if upholding justice is our calling, then we cannot maintain silence. When the hope of administrative impartiality has been dashed, we have to warn those malfeasant officials: We are firm believers that justice will eventually prevail and we will fight you every step of the way until the day comes when television and all media regain their full independence.

( 行政中立的奢望與失望  作者 林冠宏 ）(特別感謝 翻譯 劉先生）