The nation got a grim reminder yesterday of just how low China, and its accomplice the World Health Organization (WHO), will go to suppress Taiwan.
The annual World Health Assembly (WHA) meeting is scheduled for next Monday to May 21 in Geneva. As Taiwan's official delegation, accompanied by the local media, were set to leave for Geneva, WHO officials informed Taiwan's journalists late Tuesday night that because Taiwan is not a member of the UN, journalists holding a Taiwanese passport will not be allowed to cover the meeting.
The WHO officials said the decision on applications by Taiwanese journalists to cover the meeting will be handled by UN departments. WHO spokesman Iain Simpson told the journalists that the UN's decision was made due to the threat of international terrorist activities. This means that UN security staff will be more strict at the WHA meeting.
We know that the decision was not made by the WHO officials responsible for contacting the Taiwanese media. They were simply the messengers. Still, the nation's media were shocked and angered when told of the WHO's decision.
The sudden decision, which deviates from past practice, leaves Taiwanese journalists at a loss. The move locks the country's media out of the WHO and Taiwan's eighth attempt to join the organization.
This decision, so denigrating to Taiwan, is obviously politically motivated. It is plain that China lies behind it, once again putting pressure on Taiwan and making the UN and the WHO its accomplices.
Simpson's explanation is obviously a lie. Taiwan has an international image of being both moderate and friendly, and has never been a part of terrorist activity. If the UN wants to carry out security controls for meeting participants, it should direct its efforts at terrorist nations, including those threatening to use military force to "liberate" Taiwan.
China has of course designed various ways to keep Taiwan out of the WHO, while Taiwan, still under the threat of a SARS outbreak from across the Strait, is in dire need of WHO resources and assistance.
Beijing not only links up with other countries to block Taiwan's accession to the WHO, it also keeps Taiwan's media standing outside the organization's door. The Chinese authorities are probably afraid Taiwan's media would expose their evil doings.
We simply don't understand the WHO's decision. It is an organization made up of countries from around the world, of which China is but one. Yet China acts as if it were the master of the UN. On the issue of Taiwan, the UN dares not pursue a direction different from China's wishes. Even the world's superpower, the US, cannot dominate the UN, but apparently China can get what it wants. Are there countries out there besides China? Or have these countries already become Chinese colonies? It seems that saying no to China makes Taiwan the world's enemy.
The media environment is an indication of a country's level of democracy. China's dictatorship oppresses its media to sustain the regime. Today, the UN, the world's human rights protector and peacekeeper, acts as an accomplice, helping China to oppress Taiwan's press freedom. Is the spirit proclaimed in the UN Charter nothing but a joke?
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