After protesting a denial of entry by the UN’s Geneva office last month, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said it has received a positive response from the organization, which said that any Republic of China (ROC) citizen can visit the Geneva office with two forms of photo identification.
“It is okay to enter the Palais des Nations” for a tour, said Michael Hsu (徐佩勇), director-general of the MOFA’s Department of International Organizations, granted that the visitors display an ROC passport and a government-issued photo ID.
As for the UN headquarters in New York, a passport would be sufficient, Hsu added.
The issue of whether Taiwan’s international space is being squeezed has become a hotly debated topic since a Taiwanese tourist was reportedly refused entry to the UN office in Geneva for a tour, even though the person presented identification in the form of an ROC passport.
The traveler, surnamed Tsai (蔡), complained in a post on Facebook last month that she was denied entry to the Palais des Nations during a recent tour to Geneva.
Tsai said that security officers refused her entry because the UN does not recognize the ROC.
Upon learning the incident, officials with Taiwan’s representative office in Geneva brought up the issue with the UN office there and lodged a protest, Hsu said.
LOW RISK: Most nations do not extradite people accused of political crimes, and the UN says extradition can only happen if the act is a crime in both countries, an official said China yesterday issued wanted notices for two Taiwanese influencers, accusing them of committing “separatist acts” by criticizing Beijing, amid broadening concerns over China’s state-directed transnational repression. The Quanzhou Public Security Bureau in a notice posted online said police are offering a reward of up to 25,000 yuan (US$3,523) for information that could contribute to the investigation or apprehension of pro-Taiwanese independence YouTuber Wen Tzu-yu (溫子渝),who is known as Pa Chiung (八炯) online, and rapper Chen Po-yuan (陳柏源). Wen and Chen are suspected of spreading content that supported secession from China, slandered Chinese policies that benefit Taiwanese and discrimination against Chinese spouses of
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