This is the second year in a row that Taiwanese journalists have been denied access to the world’s largest heath policy meeting.
The News Lens
Date: 2018/05/18
By: David Green
Photo Credit: AP /TPG
A decision by the United Nations (UN) World Health Organization (WHO) to deny reporting accreditation to Taiwanese journalists has triggered a furor over whether Chinese pressure is forcing the UN to contravene its human rights commitments.
Taiwan’s Central News Agency on Tuesday had accreditation applications for two of its journalists turned down by the WHO. No explanation was given to explain the process behind the decision, but the rejection matches a similar denial of applications from CNA that occurred last year.
Photo Credit: Reuters / TPGA WHO flag is pictured at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, May 23, 2017.
Various press organizations, including the International Federation of Journalists (IJF) and its local affiliate the Association of Taiwan Journalists (ATJ), as well as Reporters Without Borders (RSF), have lambasted the WHO for bowing to Chinese pressure, contravening the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), and a lack of transparency in their process.
Taiwan has not been invited to the WHA for two years in a row, and its press have now been denied access on both occasions. [FULL STORY]
