Taiwan ranked 60th among 167 countries and areas surveyed in the world in terms of respect for press freedom, up one notch from its ranking last year, in the latest report released by Reporters without Borders on Tuesday.
In its press freedom report for this year, the group said that Scandinavian countries continue to rank at the top of the list, while East Asian and Middle Eastern countries continue to take up most of the spots at the bottom of the list.
The group reported that in the year between September last year and last month, East Asia remained the area with the least amount of press freedom, with North Korea finishing at the bottom of the list for the third consecutive year, Myanmar ranking 165th and China placing 162nd.
The other two countries on the "five worst offenders" list are Turkmenistan and Bhutan. Vietnam placed 161st, while Laos ranked 153rd.
Press freedom also remained under threat in the Middle East, with Saudi Arabia ranking 159th; Iran placing 158th; Syria ranking 155th; and Iraq finishing 148th, the RWB report indicated.
New Zealand, placing ninth, was the highest ranked country among all non-European states.
China continued as the "largest jail in the world" for reporters and journalists, with 27 currently locked up, according to the report. The group said that although Beijing had promised when bidding to host the 2008 Olympic Games to improve treatment of members of the media, foreign media organizations continue to be regularly monitored and censored by the authorities.
The report also mentioned that government authorities in South Korea, which ranked 48th, and in Taiwan have "not always" been tolerant of opposition in the media.
The Paris-based group drew up the press freedom ranking report by asking journalists, researchers and legal experts to answer 52 questions about the whole range of press freedom violations, such as murders or arrests of journalists, censorship, pressure, state monopolies in various fields, punishment for press law offenses, and regulation of the media.
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