Bias Without Borders: AP and Taiwanese Elections

March 7th, 2007 12:10 AM

A reader with a Taiwanese IP address writes us with a tip about bias from the AP regarding a particular candidate in the presidential election on the island nation, Annette Lu:

The opening paragraph of this news article uses the phrase "whom China has called 'insane' and the 'scum of the nation'".

What does Lu have anything to do with PRC (mainland China) and deserve to be called insane and scum in supposedly "objective" news?

[continued...]

Sure enough, I checked out the March 6 article and I have to say I agree with our reader from Taiwan.

Chinese officials may reserve their harshest rhetoric for Lu in comparison to other candidates for office, but it's not like Beijing has a soft spot for any Taiwanese politician who favors formal independence for the Republic of China.

In short, our reader, "S.H." is correct to say that the reference to Chinese Communist sentiment is gratuitous, if not unobjective.

Thanks for reading, S.H., and for reminding us all that bias knows no borders.