Reporters Without Borders (RSF) yesterday called for Taiwanese reporters to be allowed to cover UN events, including the annual World Health Assembly (WHA).
“In recent years, the UN has been under pressure from China to turn down requests for press accreditation from Taiwanese nationals and media on the pretext that Taiwan and its passport are not recognized,” RSF said in a news release.
Taiwanese journalists were denied accreditation to cover the International Civil Aviation Organizati’s (ICAO) 2016 assembly and also to cover the WHA in 2017 and last year, it said.
Photo: Reuters
“The current ban contradicts the fundamental right to free information stated in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” the statement quoted RSF secretary-general Christophe Deloire as saying.
“Accrediting bona fide journalists and media is not a political move and should not depend on their nationality or the geographical origin of the outlet they represent,” he said.
Like other journalists and media around the globe, Taiwanese reporters are entitled to cover UN events, even if the UN sees Taiwan as part of China, it said.
The group listed a series of upcoming UN events that it said Taiwanese media should be granted access to, including the 72nd WHA from May 20 to May 28 in Geneva, Switzerland; the 74th annual General Assembly from Sept. 17 to Sept. 30 in New York City; and the 40th ICAO Assembly from Sept. 24 to Oct. 4 in Montreal, Canada.
Taiwan was ranked 42nd out of 180 in the RSF’s 2018 World Press Freedom Index, the highest in Asia.
China was ranked 176th in the index, with more than 65 journalists and citizen journalists imprisoned in the country.
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