The Association of Taiwan Journalists (ATJ) yesterday protested China’s refusal to issue visas to two Taiwanese journalists who had planned to accompany Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) on his visit to China, while urging the council to take action to defend the freedom of the press.
Wang is scheduled to meet with China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) Director Zhang Zhijun (張志軍) in Nanjing, China, tomorrow.
A total of 89 journalists from 43 media outlets in Taiwan have signed up to cover the upcoming Wang-Zhang meeting, according to MAC statistics.
According to a statement released by the ATJ yesterday, among Taiwanese media outlets accompanying Wang, visa applications from reporters from for the Chinese-language Apple Daily and Radio Free Asia were turned down by Chinese authorities without explanation.
“China’s unilateral restriction of reporters’ access is a serious violation of the freedom of the press,” the statement said. “If Wang cannot express the deepest regrets over the issue, he would be, in fact, agreeing to negotiate with China in an unjust way, and should explain to the public the reason behind his decision.”
The statement added that, since 2008, Taiwan has never rejected any visa application by Chinese journalists, but China has not treated reporters from Taiwan the same way.
“Prior to any talk about mutually creating representative offices, Taiwan should negotiate with China to better protect the freedom of news gathering, the freedom of movement, the freedom of reporting, the freedom of the Internet, the freedom of communications and the personal safety of journalists from Taiwan,” the statement said. “In addition, journalists should stay free of government intervention.”
There was no response from the council as of press time.
The Wang-Zhang meeting will be the first-ever meeting between the incumbent cross-strait policymakers of the two sides.
MAC officials said a key goal of the encounter was to institutionalize regular communications between the MAC and TAO, but added that it has nothing to do with paving the way for a meeting between President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) as has been speculated.
During his four-day trip in China, Wang will expect “reciprocal and dignified” treatment from his hosts, officials added. They said that China will not give Wang “red carpet” treatment, but is likely to expedite customs and immigration procedures for him and provide him with a police motorcade.
Wang, who is heading a delegation of close to 20 Taiwanese officials, is to be received by TAO Vice Director Chen Yuanfeng (陳元豐) upon arrival in Nanjing tomorrow, and will meet with Zhang in the afternoon. The following day, Wang is scheduled to visit the mausoleum of Republic of China founding father Sun Yat-sen (孫逸仙) in Nanjing and speak at Nanjing University.
Wang is to head to Shanghai on Thursday and visit think tanks there, including the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, before winding up his trip on Friday.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
IMPORTANT BACKER: China seeks to expel US influence from the Indo-Pacific region and supplant Washington as the global leader, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said China is preparing for war to seize Taiwan, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said in Washington on Friday, warning that Taiwan’s fall would trigger a regional “domino effect” endangering US security. In a speech titled “Maintaining the Peaceful and Stable Status Quo Across the Taiwan Strait is in Line with the Shared Interests of Taiwan and the United States,” Chiu said Taiwan’s strategic importance is “closely tied” to US interests. Geopolitically, Taiwan sits in a “core position” in the first island chain — an arc stretching from Japan, through Taiwan and the Philippines, to Borneo, which is shared by
RSS