The Brussels-based International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) on Tuesday demanded the UN ensure that Taiwanese journalists are not denied accreditation for the World Health Assembly and other UN-affiliated conferences.
"The International Federation of Journalists ... expresses its deep concern over the rejection of accreditation for Taiwanese journalists to attend the annual conference of the World Health Organisation in May 2004," wrote IFJ general secretary Aidan White in Tuesday's letter to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
The letter noted that while Taiwan had been excluded from the UN and affiliated bodies since 1971 due to loss of membership and opposition from China, "Taiwanese journalists have always been able to obtain accreditation until now.
"This is doubtless a backward step for the freedom of the press," the letter stated.
The Association of Taiwan Journalists, which is affiliated with the IFJ, said that this was the first time the IFJ had written to the UN with regard to Taiwan's accreditation difficulties.
Association representatives said they were uncertain about whether the letter would hold any sway with the UN.
a way forward
"It's hard to say if the letter can actually achieve our goals, but it's a method, a way forward ... and at the very least the IFJ is the largest association for journalists globally right now," said Ray Chang (
"The point is to use our status as journalists as a bargaining tool," Chang said.
The letter said: "The denial of accreditation has undermined the ability of Taiwanese journalists to cover world affairs. Journalists are independent individuals and should not be seen as representatives of their country of origin."
A motion to support the rights of Taiwanese journalists via public notice and correspondence with the UN was unanimously passed by IFJ members at its 24th World Congress in May.
Copies of the letter have also been sent to World Health Organization director general Lee Jong-wook and UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization director general Koichiro Matsuura.
Former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) mention of Taiwan’s official name during a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on Wednesday was likely a deliberate political play, academics said. “As I see it, it was intentional,” National Chengchi University Graduate Institute of East Asian Studies professor Wang Hsin-hsien (王信賢) said of Ma’s initial use of the “Republic of China” (ROC) to refer to the wider concept of “the Chinese nation.” Ma quickly corrected himself, and his office later described his use of the two similar-sounding yet politically distinct terms as “purely a gaffe.” Given Ma was reading from a script, the supposed slipup
Former Czech Republic-based Taiwanese researcher Cheng Yu-chin (鄭宇欽) has been sentenced to seven years in prison on espionage-related charges, China’s Ministry of State Security announced yesterday. China said Cheng was a spy for Taiwan who “masqueraded as a professor” and that he was previously an assistant to former Cabinet secretary-general Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). President-elect William Lai (賴清德) on Wednesday last week announced Cho would be his premier when Lai is inaugurated next month. Today is China’s “National Security Education Day.” The Chinese ministry yesterday released a video online showing arrests over the past 10 years of people alleged to be
THE HAWAII FACTOR: While a 1965 opinion said an attack on Hawaii would not trigger Article 5, the text of the treaty suggests the state is covered, the report says NATO could be drawn into a conflict in the Taiwan Strait if Chinese forces attacked the US mainland or Hawaii, a NATO Defense College report published on Monday says. The report, written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, states that under certain conditions a Taiwan contingency could trigger Article 5 of NATO, under which an attack against any member of the alliance is considered an attack against all members, necessitating a response. Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty specifies that an armed attack in the territory of any member in Europe,
The bodies of two individuals were recovered and three additional bodies were discovered on the Shakadang Trail (砂卡礑) in Taroko National Park, eight days after the devastating earthquake in Hualien County, search-and-rescue personnel said. The rescuers reported that they retrieved the bodies of a man and a girl, suspected to be the father and daughter from the Yu (游) family, 500m from the entrance of the trail on Wednesday. The rescue team added that despite the discovery of the two bodies on Friday last week, they had been unable to retrieve them until Wednesday due to the heavy equipment needed to lift