Taiwan yesterday saw its press freedom ranking slip 23 spots in the latest report issued by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), dropping to 59th this year from 36th last year.
"The new ruling party in Taiwan tried to interfere in state and privately-owned media, while violence by certain activists further undermined press freedom," RSF said on its Web site.
Since the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regained power in May last year, Taiwan has seen its ranking in RSF's? press freedom index dip for a second year.
It was also the second time this year that Taiwan suffered a downgrade in a survey by a global media watchdog.
In May, the US-based Freedom House ranked Taiwan 43rd in its global survey, falling 11 spots from last year, saying "media in Taiwan faced assault and growing government pressure."
In response to RSF's latest report, Executive Yuan Spokesman Su Jun-pin (蘇俊賓) said the international organizations might have ranked the nation's performance based on their impression.
"When an institution examines so many countries, the impression they get from each country strongly influences how they rank the indicators," he said.
"We welcome international friends who would like to come to Taiwan to observe the media environment. Maybe they would form different opinions," he said.
Saying that the government had not interfered in the media over the past year, Su said it would work to clarify the facts with international organizations.
"Although [RSF] alleged the government exerted pressure on state and privately owned media, it did not cite concrete examples," Su said.
"I haven't heard of complaints from media outlets about government interference," Su added.
Su said the government would take the initiative to contact international organizations, study their surveys and make necessary improvements to advance freedom of speech in the country.
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
Taiwan yesterday denied Chinese allegations that its military was behind a cyberattack on a technology company in Guangzhou, after city authorities issued warrants for 20 suspects. The Guangzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau earlier yesterday issued warrants for 20 people it identified as members of the Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command (ICEFCOM). The bureau alleged they were behind a May 20 cyberattack targeting the backend system of a self-service facility at the company. “ICEFCOM, under Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party, directed the illegal attack,” the warrant says. The bureau placed a bounty of 10,000 yuan (US$1,392) on each of the 20 people named in
The High Court yesterday found a New Taipei City woman guilty of charges related to helping Beijing secure surrender agreements from military service members. Lee Huei-hsin (李慧馨) was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison for breaching the National Security Act (國家安全法), making illegal compacts with government employees and bribery, the court said. The verdict is final. Lee, the manager of a temple in the city’s Lujhou District (蘆洲), was accused of arranging for eight service members to make surrender pledges to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army in exchange for money, the court said. The pledges, which required them to provide identification
INDO-PACIFIC REGION: Royal Navy ships exercise the right of freedom of navigation, including in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, the UK’s Tony Radakin told a summit Freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific region is as important as it is in the English Channel, British Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Tony Radakin said at a summit in Singapore on Saturday. The remark came as the British Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, the HMS Prince of Wales, is on an eight-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific region as head of an international carrier strike group. “Upholding the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and with it, the principles of the freedom of navigation, in this part of the world matters to us just as it matters in the
RSS