中美貿易代表於華盛頓舉行第七輪高級別經貿磋商,美國總統特朗普上周五(2月22日)在白宮橢圓型辦公室,會晤中國副總理劉鶴。香港時間2月23日早上,多個華文媒體都有類似報道,指特朗普將會與司法部商討撤銷起訴華為的可能性。
正所謂有片有真相,翻查了電視台的相關報道,未見有此番說話的節錄,再看看外媒,見到《路透社》有以下一段:
Trump told reporters at the White House that U.S. officials are not talking about dropping charges against Huawei.
Huawei will be raised with U.S. attorneys and the attorney general in the coming weeks, Trump said, but “right now it’s not something that we're discussing.”
的確,特朗普將會與司法部門討論華為,但根據文字描述,並非是要討論「撤銷起訴華為可能性」,更表明是「U.S. officials are not talking about dropping charges against Huawei」,與華文媒體有極大出入。
白宮的YouTube頻道之後亦有上載特朗普回應記者的片段,而他的發言更可以選擇英文字幕,特朗普當時指「或會或不會」(may or may not )把華為和中興的問題,納入將談判的貿易協議,之後有一位女記者追問,會否撤銷對華為的刑事起訴,特朗普有以下回應:
We're gonna be discussing all of that during the course of the next couple of weeks, and We'll be talking to the US Attorney's. We'll be talking to the Attorney General, but We'll be making that decision. Right now it's not something that would discuss.
究竟向司法部門討論華為事件的甚麼內容?做甚麼決定?按理記者應該要追問,但當然有其困難,但是否可以得出「特朗普將與司法部商討撤銷起訴華為可能性」,又似乎太滑坡了。
為何會集體出現誤會?極可能是源自這一篇《美聯社》的即時報道,標題為「The Latest: Trump raises prospect of dropping Huawei charges」,內容如下:
President Donald Trump says the possibility of dropping criminal charges against Huawei would be discussed with U.S. attorneys and with Attorney General Bill Barr in coming weeks.
又難怪多個華文媒體會如獲至寶,針對此點做報道,事實上,事發於香港時間深夜,要求記者完整看罷白宮直播是苛求,依賴外電消息是合情合理。
真湊巧,特朗普當日見記者時,說了以下這句話:
Do they have fake news in China? I think so.
(白宮片段及Google截圖)