Taipei Times
Date: Sep 22, 2016
By: Staff writer, with CNA
Two Taiwanese officials were forced to leave a meeting of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) Committee on Fisheries (COFI) in Italy in July, allegedly due to pressure from China, Fisheries Agency Director-General Chen Tian-shou (陳添壽) said yesterday.
Chen said that when the two representatives from his agency presented their passports at the venue, one entered, but the other was stopped.
The first official was later asked to leave the meeting and although both of them sought assistance, they “had difficulty” participating, Chen told a legislative hearing.
He said the two officials had registered to attend the meeting, not as government representatives, but as members of nongovernmental organizations (NGO) — the Taiwan Fisheries Association and the Overseas Fisheries Development Council of the Republic of China.
It was the first time such an incident had occurred at a COFI meeting since 2003, when Taiwanese officials began participating as NGO members or experts, Chen said, confirming local media reports on the matter. [FULL STORY]