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Freedom House has come out with a strong call to the
World Health Organization to allow Taiwanese journalists to cover
the organization’s annual assembly in Geneva that began May 19 and
will end on May 24.
Journalists from Taiwan—whose
government, the Republic of China, is a founding member of the
WHO—have been denied accreditation for the World Health Assembly
since 2004 because of pressure from China, which claims Taiwan is a
part of China.
The Republic of China (ROC) based
in Taiwan lost its United Nations membership to the People’s
Republic of China (PRC) in a 1971 General Assembly resolution.
Taiwan has tried to rejoin WHO
multiple times with no success. Journalists must prove their home
country or territory is recognized by the UN to obtain accreditation
to the World Health Assembly. Taiwan journalists’ country is the
ROC which is no longer recognized.
“The World Health
Organization’s insistence on barring Taiwan’s journalists is
irresponsible in an age of epidemics such as SARS, AIDS and avian
flu that have quickly engulfed Asia,” said Paula Schriefer,
Freedom House director of advocacy. “Everyone has the right to
obtain timely and accurate information about health risks and this
should not be denied by the WHO in the name of petty diplomacy.”
In a letter to the United Nations
dated May 14, Freedom House said that the WHO’s decision
contradicted Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
which states that, “everyone has the right . . . to seek, receive
and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of
frontiers.” It also quoted Article 2 which holds that “no
distinction shall be made on the basis of the political,
jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory
to which a person belongs.”
Taiwan’s media is ranked as the
freest in East Asia, in Freedom House’s Freedom of the Press 2008
report. In contrast, China’s media has one of the region’s least
free environments, with journalists facing detention, surveillance,
violence and death threats.
“The idea that China’s
state-controlled media could somehow disseminate information about a
health crisis to Taiwan’s 23 million citizens in an accurate and
timely manner is preposterous,” said Schriefer. “Also, it’s
important to remember that Taiwan is a global travel hub and
compromising its health status could have far reaching implications
for the world as a whole.” 
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