Taiwan has gained 63 more foreign correspondents and 29 additional news organizations since 2020, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official said yesterday, as media companies continue to relocate staff from Hong Kong and China.
The regional operations of 75 international media companies are based in Taiwan, drawing 137 journalists from 20 countries, Department of International Organizations Director Catherine Hsu (徐詠梅) told a routine news briefing in Taipei.
“The ministry sincerely welcomes international media companies to Taiwan and hopes companies will continue to relocate here in the future,” she said, adding that the ministry would continue to provide any necessary assistance.
Photo: Lu Yi-hsuan, Taipei Times
Over the past few years, Beijing has cracked down on the international media companies in China.
After the Chinese government imposed the National Security Law on Hong Kong, freedom of speech and judicial independence in the territory were greatly curbed.
This has resulted in some foreign media outlets relocating to Taiwan.
Many companies have chosen to leave Hong Kong due to China’s suppression of the media and free speech in the territory since the introduction of the National Security Law, Hsu said.
International media companies relocating to Taiwan are from a wider assortment of countries, she said, citing the arrival of companies from Oceania, South America and different regions of Asia.
The companies operate newspapers, television and radio programs, magazines and online news programs from their operations in Taiwan, she said.
“Their content is also diverse, covering everything from cross-strait affairs, Taiwan’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, industrial developments and the arts,” she said.
“Taiwan is a good place for them due to its protection of press freedoms, and its convenient geographical location, which makes regional travel easy,” Hsu added.
Reporters Without Borders ranked Taiwan 38th in its 2022 World Press Freedom Index released earlier this month, she said.
US-based Freedom House also listed Taiwan as a “free” country, and has ranked the nation 94th overall for two consecutive years, placing it second among all Asian countries, she added.
SEPARATE: The MAC rebutted Beijing’s claim that Taiwan is China’s province, asserting that UN Resolution 2758 neither mentions Taiwan nor grants the PRC authority over it The “status quo” of democratic Taiwan and autocratic China not belonging to each other has long been recognized by the international community, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday in its rebuttal of Beijing’s claim that Taiwan can only be represented in the UN as “Taiwan, Province of China.” Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) yesterday at a news conference of the third session at the 14th National People’s Congress said that Taiwan can only be referred to as “Taiwan, Province of China” at the UN. Taiwan is an inseparable part of Chinese territory, which is not only history but
NATIONAL SECURITY: The Chinese influencer shared multiple videos on social media in which she claimed Taiwan is a part of China and supported its annexation Freedom of speech does not allow comments by Chinese residents in Taiwan that compromise national security or social stability, the nation’s top officials said yesterday, after the National Immigration Agency (NIA) revoked the residency permit of a Chinese influencer who published videos advocating China annexing Taiwan by force. Taiwan welcomes all foreigners to settle here and make families so long as they “love the land and people of Taiwan,” Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) told lawmakers during a plenary session at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. The public power of the government must be asserted when necessary and the Ministry of
CROSSED A LINE: While entertainers working in China have made pro-China statements before, this time it seriously affected the nation’s security and interests, a source said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) late on Saturday night condemned the comments of Taiwanese entertainers who reposted Chinese statements denigrating Taiwan’s sovereignty. The nation’s cross-strait affairs authority issued the statement after several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑), Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜) and Michelle Chen (陳妍希), on Friday and Saturday shared on their respective Sina Weibo (微博) accounts a post by state broadcaster China Central Television. The post showed an image of a map of Taiwan along with the five stars of the Chinese flag, and the message: “Taiwan is never a country. It never was and never will be.” The post followed remarks
Proposed amendments would forbid the use of all personal electronic devices during school hours in high schools and below, starting from the next school year in August, the Ministry of Education said on Monday. The Regulations on the Use of Mobile Devices at Educational Facilities up to High Schools (高級中等以下學校校園行動載具使用原則) state that mobile devices — defined as mobile phones, laptops, tablets, smartwatches or other wearables — should be turned off at school. The changes would stipulate that use of such devices during class is forbidden, and the devices should be handed to a teacher or the school for safekeeping. The amendments also say
RSS