Taiwan has a key role to play in addressing China’s threat to press freedom, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) secretary-general Christophe Deloire said yesterday, as the organization launched its first East Asian bureau headquartered in Taipei.
“China wants to set up a new world media order and that’s a vast campaign for China — the country regime wants to change the rest of the world before we succeed in changing China,“ Deloire said. “We consider Taiwan to have a key role to play making China change before China changes us.”
“Taiwan is pure evidence that democracy and press freedom are possible in Chinese culture, and that is really one of the strongest arguments against claims by Beijing authorities their system is really adapted to Chinese culture. Taiwan is probably one of the societies which is most able to exercise an influence not only in China, but also throughout the rest of the world regarding this fight for democracy and press freedom in China,” he said, adding that the bureau would be charged with monitoring regional press freedom and engaging in government advocacy, as well as taking responsibility for regional publications, activities and fundraising.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
RSF’s decision to base its bureau in Taiwan has drawn attention as a potential trend away from using Hong Kong as a regional base for the operations of non-governmental organizations, with Freedom House reportedly also considering setting up a regional office in Taichung.
“We chose to open the office in Taipei rather than in Hong Kong because of legal safety and security considerations — there were risks of surveillance against our team in Hong Kong, but not in Taipei,” Deloire said. “Taiwan is also the best area in the whole area in the whole region for press freedom, so it also made sense to set up our office here.”
Taiwan was this year ranked 45th out of 180 nations in RSF’s World Press Freedom Index, compared with South Korea (63), Japan (72) and Hong Kong (73) making it the only nation in the region ranked as “fairly good” instead of “problematic,” “bad” or “very bad.”
“We do not consider Taiwan’s situation perfect, because we do consider there to be a clear lack of independence of newsrooms from boardrooms and owners. There is also even a risk — and sometimes the risk is already a reality — of Chinese interference on the editorial line of media outlets,” Deloire said, calling for the removal of criminal penalties from the nation’s defamation laws.
Taipei was chosen over Taichung and Kaohsiung “because it’s the capital and it’s easier to come and meet people,” Deloire said, adding that he would like to see the bureau hire up to seven people within five years.
RSF Taipei bureau director Cedric Alviani said the group was still completing its government registration, with the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism still preparing the bureau’s office space, which should open by year’s end.
The Cabinet yesterday welcomed and congratulated the RSF on its announcement of plans to open its first Asia bureau in Taipei, an indication of Taiwan’s achievements in democracy, Executive Yuan spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) said.
Additional reporting by Chen Wei-han
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
US PUBLICATION: The results indicated a change in attitude after a 2023 survey showed 55 percent supported full-scale war to achieve unification, the report said More than half of Chinese were against the use of force to unify with Taiwan under any circumstances, a survey conducted by the Atlanta, Georgia-based Carter Center and Emory University found. The survey results, which were released on Wednesday in a report titled “Sovereignty, Security, & US-China Relations: Chinese Public Opinion,” showed that 55.1 percent of respondents agreed or somewhat agreed that “the Taiwan problem should not be resolved using force under any circumstances,” while 24.5 percent “strongly” or “somewhat” disagreed with the statement. The results indicated a change in attitude after a survey published in “Assessing Public Support for (Non)Peaceful Unification
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
The China Coast Guard has seized control of a disputed reef near a major Philippine military outpost in the South China Sea, Beijing’s state media said, adding to longstanding territorial tensions with Manila. Beijing claims sovereignty over almost all of the South China Sea and has waved away competing assertions from other countries as well as an international ruling that its position has no legal basis. China and the Philippines have engaged in months of confrontations in the contested waters, and Manila is taking part in sweeping joint military drills with the US which Beijing has slammed as destabilizing. The Chinese coast guard
RSS