1. The display ad, like any piece of advertising, had nothing to do with the editorial department's stand on any issue. This is a result of long-established working principles. At The Nation, journalists and the advertising department have clear-cut, separate roles to ensure minimum conflicts of interest.

2. The Nation operates under globally accepted principles that no ad reflects a newspaper's editorial stand on any particular issue. The newsroom's editorial stand is presented through the newspaper's editorials only.

3. We have upheld professional standards in reporting every issue, including the drug-patent controversy, which means that all sides of the argument have been presented to our readers, and this included the contentious points in the USA for Innovation ad. Our journalists' stands on the matter have been published in the opinion section, all of which can be accessed at www.nationmultimedia.com.

4. Since the ad in question has generated accusations that several parts of the statement were very inaccurate, we welcome counter-arguments from the other side, which is invited to state its case in appropriate response to the US campaign. This, we hope, will benefit the Thai public, who will be able to absorb information from all concerned parties in this major bilateral and international controversy.

The Nation's Editorial Department