The UN on Friday reneged on its promise to allow Andrew Hsia (
Anthony Jenkins, president of the UN Correspondents Association (UNCA), told members of the media gathered outside the UN building that while arranging for Hsia to speak to his group on Taiwan's bid to join the World Health Assembly (WHA) and the SARS epidemic, he had checked with the UN secretary-general's office and was told that although Secretary-General Kofi Annan anticipated the protest from Beijing, "this is something the United Nations could live with."
"Unfortunately, late last night, I received a phone call that the secretary-general had changed his mind and would bar us from having this briefing inside the United Nations," he said.
PHOTO: AP
Jenkins said his association has a long history of inviting people to speak who are not particularly in favor with their respective governments. He cited the examples of Sinn Fein representative Gerry Adams, East Timor's Jose Horta and representatives of Chechen independence groups.
The British, Indonesian and Russian governments did not complain on those occasions, and neither did the UN nor any of its members, he said.
"The government of the People's Republic of China is the only government that has chosen to try to interfere with our rights to speak to whomever we please," Jenkins said.
"We feel it is a sad day when the United Nations kowtows to this sort of pressure. The United Nations is an organization that is devoted to the concept of freedom of the press. The United Nations invented World Press Freedom Day which is celebrated every year and was celebrated here just a month ago," he said.
For that reason, he said the UNCA will "protest vigorously," and added that "we also offer our apologies to Mr. Hsia."
Later, in a brief interview, Jenkins said it is the right of journalists to speak to anybody.
"It's our duty. We believe the press has a vital role to play in keeping governments honest, in rendering the affairs of the state as transparent as possible. That's what makes democracies strong," he said.
"If we are prevented from doing that job, then clearly you have a situation where people are not getting all the information they should be getting, and that has the potential to undermine democracy," he continued.
Nancy Leahy, who works for the Japanese daily Sankei Shumbun, said it is "frustrating and pathetic that political issues should have blocked freedom of the press."
She said that the UNCA is supposed to be an independent organization and that the UN secretary-general should be distanced from political issues.
She also noted the "great irony" in the UN's establishing World Press Freedom Day and then proceeding to trample precisely on that freedom.
Gloria Starr Kins, a journalist who witnessed the UN security staff blocking Jenkins and Hsia from entering the UN building, also expressed outrage.
Kins said she is a friend of Vice President Annette Lu (
UNCA sources said the group's executive committee voted 11 to 1 in favor of inviting Hsia to speak to members.
The only dissenting vote, from a Chinese member of the UNCA, finally vetoed the whole committee's decision.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
UNWAVERING: Paraguay remains steadfast in its support of Taiwan, but is facing growing pressure at home and abroad to switch recognition to Beijing, Pena said Paraguayan President Santiago Pena has pledged to continue enhancing cooperation with Taiwan, as he and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida expressed opposition to any unilateral change to the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait using force, Japanese media reported on Saturday. Kishida yesterday completed a trip to France, Brazil and Paraguay, his first visit to South America since taking office in 2021. After the Japanese leader and Pena spoke for more than an hour on Friday, exchanging views on the situation in East Asia in the face of China’s increasing military pressure on Taiwan, they affirmed that “unilateral attempts to change the