Wikimedia Taiwan yesterday called on China to take responsibility for intellectual property (IP) issues after a Chinese delegation pressed the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to suspend a review of the Wikimedia Foundation’s application for observer status.
The WIPO is a UN specialized agency committed to developing a balanced and effective global IP system.
When its member states on Wednesday examined the foundation’s application for observer status, a Chinese delegate asked the assembly to suspend the discussion, non-governmental organization (NGO) Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) reported.
Photo: Reuters
“As of October 2015 this foundation had 41 recognized chapters and thematic organizations, one of which is Wikimedia Taiwan, established in the province of China,” the KEI quoted the Chinese delegate as saying. “There is reason to believe that this foundation has been carrying out political activities through its member organizations, which could undermine the state’s [China’s] sovereignty and territorial integrity, therefore, it is not fitting for the foundation to serve as an observer to this professional organization.”
The delegate asked the assembly to suspend discussion of Wikimedia Foundation’s application “before the foundation could further clarify such questions as member organizations and Taiwan related positions,” the KEI reported.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday criticized the Chinese delegate.
Photo screen grab from the Taiwan Wild Bird Federation Facebook Page
The delegate is seeking to impose political censorship on the Wikimedia Foundation and override professionalism with politics, the ministry said.
The application was supported by the delegates from the UK and the US, showing that there are still “voices of justice” inside the global organization, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said in a statement.
Reviewing NGOs’ applications for observer status is irrelevant to the so-called “one China” issue, Ou said, urging the WIPO to adopt a professional approach in examining the foundation’s application.
The WIPO should not become an agent of Chinese expansionism in global organizations or an accomplice in subduing NGOs, otherwise it would fall short of its goals of protecting global IP, she said.
Wikimedia Taiwan issued statements in Chinese and English.
The Wikimedia movement has demonstrated how open licenses encourage users to join hands to create an enormous, astonishing knowledge base, the statement said.
The “fact that our mere existence has become an excuse for a country to hold back a major global affair’s development is astonishingly ridiculous, especially for this to happen in a formal meeting of a UN organization,” it said.
Wikimedia Taiwan “is an independent and autonomous organization that works closely with Wikimedia Foundation,” it said.
However, Wikimedia’s relationship to the Wikimedia foundation is as a partner, not an affiliate, the statement said.
“We, Wikimedia Taiwan, have nothing to do with Wikimedia Foundation’s application to the WIPO,” it added.
“Furthermore, one of the Wikimedia Foundation’s platforms ... Chinese Wikipedia’s content was constantly under the threat of China’s piracy and various means that violat[e] Creative Commons’ public licensing,” it said.
If China wants to become a responsible country on IP issues, it first needs to face the issue directly and propose a solution, and not allow China to become a haven of piracy and play “politics on an international platform, blocking out people’s right to participate in the discussion,” the statement said.
In other developments, a Taiwanese bird monitoring group yesterday announced it has changed its name to the Taiwan Wild Bird Federation, while reiterating that it has never taken a political position.
The group, previously the Chinese Wild Bird Federation, this month became the latest front line in China’s efforts to assert sovereignty over Taiwan.
“We are conservationists, not political actors. In fact, it was BirdLife who asked us to take a political stance by insisting we sign an overtly political declaration and by describing us as a ‘risk,’ without ever clearly defining what that risk was,” it said, adding that it had refused to sign any political documents.
Cambridge-based conservation group BirdLife International cut ties with the federation over concerns that it was promoting Taiwanese independence.
The federation wrote on its Web site yesterday that BirdLife said it was committed to “follow UN positions and protocols on countries and territories” and to treating Taiwan, which it referred to as “Chinese Taiwan,” as part of China.
BirdLife, which said that it was responding to an internal risk review, demanded that the group stop using the name Republic of China (ROC), “and/or any other expression suggesting independence.”
It also asked it to formally commit not to advocate or promote in any way Taiwan’s independence or the legitimacy of the ROC.
BirdLife did not respond to several requests for comment.
Additional reporting by Reuters
A Chinese freighter that allegedly snapped an undersea cable linking Taiwan proper to Penghu County is suspected of being owned by a Chinese state-run company and had docked at the ports of Kaohsiung and Keelung for three months using different names. On Tuesday last week, the Togo-flagged freighter Hong Tai 58 (宏泰58號) and its Chinese crew were detained after the Taipei-Penghu No. 3 submarine cable was severed. When the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) first attempted to detain the ship on grounds of possible sabotage, its crew said the ship’s name was Hong Tai 168, although the Automatic Identification System (AIS)
An Akizuki-class destroyer last month made the first-ever solo transit of a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ship through the Taiwan Strait, Japanese government officials with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. The JS Akizuki carried out a north-to-south transit through the Taiwan Strait on Feb. 5 as it sailed to the South China Sea to participate in a joint exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces that day. The Japanese destroyer JS Sazanami in September last year made the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s first-ever transit through the Taiwan Strait, but it was joined by vessels from New Zealand and Australia,
SECURITY: The purpose for giving Hong Kong and Macau residents more lenient paths to permanent residency no longer applies due to China’s policies, a source said The government is considering removing an optional path to citizenship for residents from Hong Kong and Macau, and lengthening the terms for permanent residence eligibility, a source said yesterday. In a bid to prevent the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from infiltrating Taiwan through immigration from Hong Kong and Macau, the government could amend immigration laws for residents of the territories who currently receive preferential treatment, an official familiar with the matter speaking on condition of anonymity said. The move was part of “national security-related legislative reform,” they added. Under the amendments, arrivals from the Chinese territories would have to reside in Taiwan for
COORDINATION, ASSURANCE: Separately, representatives reintroduced a bill that asks the state department to review guidelines on how the US engages with Taiwan US senators on Tuesday introduced the Taiwan travel and tourism coordination act, which they said would bolster bilateral travel and cooperation. The bill, proposed by US senators Marsha Blackburn and Brian Schatz, seeks to establish “robust security screenings for those traveling to the US from Asia, open new markets for American industry, and strengthen the economic partnership between the US and Taiwan,” they said in a statement. “Travel and tourism play a crucial role in a nation’s economic security,” but Taiwan faces “pressure and coercion from the Chinese Communist Party [CCP]” in this sector, the statement said. As Taiwan is a “vital trading
RSS