The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday condemned China for its refusal to issue visas to two Taiwanese journalists who had planned to cover Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Wang Yu-chi’s (王郁琦) visit to China.
The reporters from the Chinese-language Apple Daily and Radio Free Asia were among the 89 local journalists who had applied for visas to cover Wang’s four-day trip and the unprecedented meeting between the council and the Taiwan Affairs Office that begins today in Nanjing.
The federation said the pair were banned from entering China without any explanation from Beijing.
“The IFJ joins its affiliate the Association of Taiwan Journalists [ATJ] in condemning China’s refusal to issue visas to two Taiwanese journalists set to travel to China this week,” the federation said in a press release.
IFJ Asia-Pacific director Jacqui Park said the Chinese government’s refusal to issue the visas was indicative of an ongoing trend.
“The Chinese government is clearly using their ability to retract or refuse visas to journalists as an instrument of censorship,” Park said.
“Recently we have witnessed high-profile cases in which foreign journalists such as the New York Times’ Austin Ramzy and the South China Morning Post’s Paul Mooney were forced to leave the country after having visa renewals declined. This is the first case we have come across where Taiwanese journalists have been targeted,” she said.
Mooney was denied a new press card and visa after he left the South China Morning Post and went to work for Reuters last year.
The Association of Taiwan Journalists demanded that Wang lodge a protest to China and urged the council to take action to defend the freedom of the press.
The council on Sunday night said that it deeply regretted the unfortunate development and called on the Chinese to respect the freedom of the press.
The DPP demanded that Wang protest the denial of visas and make sure all the reporters who signed up for his trip could cover his visit.
“If some Taiwanese reporters are not allowed to visit China, what is the point of Taiwan engaging in negotiations with China about an agreement that will allow news institutions from both sides to set up offices in each other’s territories?” DPP spokesperson Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) told a press conference.
The council’s expression of “deep regret” was weak against Beijing’s blatant suppression of the freedom of the press, as well as a violation of international covenants, Lin said.
The visa denials highlighted the significance of the signing of a cross-strait agreement on press freedom protection, DPP Department of China Affairs director Honigmann Hong (洪財隆) said.
The council said yesterday that Wang would “discuss issues related to equal exchanges of news information” when he meets with Taiwan Affairs Office Director Zhang Zhijun (張志軍) during his trip.
“Press freedom is a universal value. We have repeatedly said that the most important thing regarding news exchange between the two sides is the free and equal flow of information,” the council said in a statement.
In related news, the Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday reported that Beijing has demanded that a memorandum be signed by Wang and Zhang after they meet to serve as “a foundation of future meetings,” citing an unnamed Chinese official.
Council spokeswoman Wu Mei-hung (吳美紅) denied the report, reiterating that Wang “would not sign any document during his visit.”
A TAO spokesperson in Beijing said the office had no comment on the newspaper report.
Additional reporting by staff writer and AFP
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai