‘IRRATIONAL MOVE’: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned Beijing for blocking Taiwan’s attendance at the World Meteorological Congress in Switzerland
Taipei Times
Date: Jun 09, 2019
By: Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporter
Taiwanese experts were yesterday abruptly blocked from attending the World
A sign with the name of the World Meterological Organization in English and French is pictured outside the organization’s headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, in an undated photograph.
Photo courtesy of Peng Chi-ming
Meteorological Congress in Geneva, Switzerland, reportedly due to Chinese pressure.
Weatherrisk Explore Inc (天氣風險管理開發) general manager Peng Chi-ming (彭啟明) and Civil IoT Taiwan information platform convener Lu Chung-chin (呂忠津) were denied entry to the conference room that hosted the congress, which is held every four years, Civil IoT Taiwan wrote on Facebook. It began on Monday last week and runs through Friday.
Peng and Lu had earlier this week joined the meeting as civic observers, but their accreditation was abruptly canceled, it wrote, adding that it suspects that World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Assistant Secretary-General Zhang Wenjian (張文健) was behind the move.
“It is very uncomfortable to encounter such a situation on the spot in Geneva, just as a healthy person is suddenly told that he has cancer,” Peng wrote on Facebook on his way back to Taiwan.
He has Chinese friends working in the profession and they can respect each other’s values, Peng said, adding that he believes the “irrational move” was made by just a few people. [FULL STORY]
