The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) legislative caucus yesterday condemned China for suppressing Taiwan and obstructing Taiwanese media coverage of this year's World Health Assembly (WHA), and criticized the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for not making a great enough effort to protect Taiwan's rights and dignity.
The WHA is slated to convene on Monday.
PHOTO: SEAN CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
This week the WHA said that it had transferred authority for press accreditation to the UN due to security concerns. The UN declared that journalists holding Taiwanese passports would not be permitted to enter the assembly building because Taiwan is not a UN member.
It has been rumored that China engineered this arrangement.
The TSU yesterday invited the ministry and Government Information Office (GIO) to elaborate on the situation.
The TSU legislators demanded that the government stick up for the nation's media -- and criticized China's actions.
"If we look at China's health record, China should be the one isolated from the global health network -- yet due to human rights concerns, China is still included. So China really should not oppress Taiwan," TSU Legislator Chien Lin Whei-jun (
Meanwhile, the ministry and GIO officials said that they had contacted several international press clubs and requested the support of
international reporters.
"We feel angry about this. Press freedom is a universal value and we urge China to respect that freedom," said David Lee (
"We have also contacted the WHO secretariat in Geneva and we have been negotiating with them on the issue," said Jieh Wen-chieh (
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation last night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by media. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan. In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20. The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon. The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistle-blower, which purportedly showed the
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or
RSS