UN journalists stand up to China

Anthony Jenkins, president of the UN Correspondents Association, became a savior for Taiwanese who struggle against Beijing's efforts to isolate the nation in New York City Friday after he stood up in opposition to Beijing's pressure on his association to shun Taiwan.

Speaking at a conference staged by the Taipei-based New Century Foundation, Jenkins won applause from the audience by declaring, "We won't be silenced by Beijing."

He was invited to recount at the conference how he had invited two prominent Taiwan political figures to deliver speeches at his association in defiance of Beijing's pressure in August.

Jenkins said the story began in May when his association invited Andrew Hsia (夏立言), director of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York, to give a speech about Taiwan's fight against SARS and its bid to join the World Health Organization.

The UN Secretariat didn't say anything during the arrangement of Hsia's May 23 speech until the eve of the speech when one of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's staff members asked him in a phone call to stop it because of pressure from Beijing.

As a result, Jenkins and Hsia had to explain outside the UN headquarters to association members on May 23 why the speech had been abruptly canceled.

Beijing's obstruction turned an otherwise regular news event into headline news in the following day's newspapers, and cast Jenkins and Hsia into the spotlight.

The UN Secretariat relaxed its policy slightly afterward by agreeing to allow the Correspondents Association to hold symposiums on issues related to Taiwan, although local officials were still not allowed to appear on the premises of the UN headquarters.

This paved the way for the association to invite Chen Lung-chih (陳隆志), a well-known supporter of Taiwan independence, to give a speech to its members, Jenkins said.

However, the association angered Beijing again when it invited Lee Ming-liang (李明亮), Taiwan's former health minister and chief of the island's anti-SARS campaign, to give his account of Taiwan's experience in combating SARS on Aug. 6.

A Beijing ambassador to the UN, whose name Jenkins did not mention, called Jenkins and warned him, in an undiplomatic way, to scrap the plan; but Jenkins refused. Jenkins said he told the ambassador, "You might be able to suppress freedom of the press in Beijing, but not in New York."

The ambassador then turned to Annan and put pressure on the UN secretary-general in an attempt to get him to stop the speech, but Annan didn't kow tow to Beijing this time, Jenkins said, adding that Annan was probably fed up with Beijing's unreasonable demands.

Lee's account of Taiwan's struggle with SARS in the absence of any international aid, which some have characterized as articulate and fascinating, was a success, Jenkins said. However, the veteran journalist emphasized that his association is not a mouthpiece for Taiwan.

He noted that it was the association which invited the Taiwan official to brief its members, and not the other way around.

He said that the association believes the dispute between Beijing and Taipei should be sorted out between themselves and that the association would not take sides.

Noting that China had suffered in its dealings with the West throughout history, Jenkins said his association understands why Beijing would make stability a top priority. He added the association has no intention of lecturing Beijing on how to behave on the world stage.