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🇹🇼 Taiwan /Culture & Society

Fan Chi-fei admits past pursuit of Chen Hsing-yu was 'very stupid,' reveals personal ties

From Liberty Times · () Chinese

Translated from Chinese, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • Veteran journalist Fan Chi-fei admitted her past aggressive interviewing tactics against Chen Hsing-yu, daughter of former President Chen Shui-bian, were "very stupid."
  • Fan explained that while media had a reason to pursue Chen due to her family's legal troubles, the "relentless pursuit" yielded no useful content.
  • The two later developed a level of personal rapport, with Fan even assisting Chen with small matters while she was in New York.

Veteran journalist Fan Chi-fei has publicly acknowledged that her past methods of intensely pursuing Chen Hsing-yu, the daughter of former Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian, were "very stupid." Chen Hsing-yu recently became a focal point of public attention again due to her public disputes with her ex-husband.

The relentless pursuit method at the time, I think it was not good. The reason it was not good is that we couldn't get any useful content, it was actually very stupid.

— Fan Chi-feiReflecting on her past aggressive interviewing tactics towards Chen Hsing-yu.

Fan, who was among the reporters covering Chen during a tumultuous period, reflected on the intense media scrutiny Chen faced. She admitted that the "relentless pursuit" approach was ineffective, stating, "We couldn't get any useful content, it was actually very stupid." Fan explained that while the media had a legitimate reason to investigate Chen because her family members were being indicted, the aggressive tactics employed at the time did not yield substantive information.

She recalled that after realizing the futility of prolonged shadowing, she took the initiative to coordinate with other media outlets. This led to an agreement with Chen to schedule interviews, allowing the media to obtain content while enabling Chen to maintain a semblance of normal life. Fan believes this negotiation was a significant journalistic event.

At that time, we didn't have other tools.

— Fan Chi-feiExplaining the limited options available to journalists during that period.

This period of coordination and subsequent interviews fostered a degree of trust between Fan and Chen. Fan revealed that they later developed a personal relationship, even having opportunities for one-on-one interviews. She also mentioned privately assisting Chen with minor personal matters while Chen was living in New York, though she declined to provide specific details due to privacy concerns.

Later, I felt that prolonged shadowing had no practical effect, so I came forward to coordinate with other media outlets.

— Fan Chi-feiDescribing her efforts to change the media's approach to interviewing Chen Hsing-yu.

Fan expressed a sense of helplessness regarding current online criticism of her past actions, questioning why the subsequent efforts to establish a more professional interview arrangement are often overlooked in public discourse.

I don't understand why everyone is criticizing me now without mentioning this.

— Fan Chi-feiExpressing frustration over current criticism that overlooks her later attempts at professionalizing interviews.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Liberty Times in Chinese. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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