‘ABSURD’: A journalists’ group demanded full media accreditation at the WHA and accused the UN of risking global health by prioritizing Beijing’s political agenda

Taipei Times
Date: May 18, 2018
By: Shelley Shan  /  Staff reporter

The Association of Taiwan Journalists yesterday issued a statement protesting the UN Secretariat’s decision to deny Taiwanese journalists access to next week’s World Health Assembly (WHA), saying it contravened Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare is scheduled to depart at midnight today for the summit, which starts on Monday in Geneva, Switzerland, despite the lack of an official invitation.

The UN Secretariat also refused to grant media accreditation to journalists from Taiwan, without citing a reason for the rejection.

“We protest in the strongest term against the UN’s transgression on the basic rights of Taiwanese journalists and demand full accreditation right to be granted without discrimination. It is absurd that the political agenda of one should be put before the wellbeing of 7 billion people,” the association said in a statement in English.
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