Taiwan moved up eight positions to 27th in the latest World Press Freedom Index released Friday by the Reporters Without Borders (RSF), an international non-profit organization that focuses on safeguarding the right to freedom of information.
The index’s top three spots went to Norway, Denmark and Sweden, in that order, with the three Nordic countries considered to have a “good” media environment.
Taiwan’s ranking placed it fourth in the Asia-Pacific region, behind New Zealand, Samoa and East Timor, which were ranked 19th, 20th and 22nd, respectively, but ahead of Australia (39th), South Korea (62nd), Japan (70th) and Thailand (87th).
Photo grab from Reporters Without Borders (RSF) website
“Taiwan, officially the Republic of China, is a liberal democracy and the world’s 21st largest economy that generally respects the principles of media freedom,” the RSF said.
Taiwan was among the 37 countries listed in the index as having a “satisfactory” media environment.
However, according to the non-profit organization, Taiwanese journalists “still suffer from a very polarized media environment dominated by sensationalism and the pursuit of profit.”
The RSF also cited a 2022 Reuters Institute survey showing that Taiwanese people have one of the lowest levels of trust in the media among democratic countries, ranking it last in the Asia-Pacific region with a trust score of only 28 percent due to the media’s vulnerability to China’s disinformation.
Meanwhile, the Asia-Pacific region is the world’s second most difficult region to practice journalism, the RSF said, indicating that Myanmar, China, North Korea, Vietnam and Afghanistan are among the world’s 10 most dangerous countries for media personnel.
Hong Kong is ranked 135th with China 172nd among 180 countries and regions. China has the largest known number of imprisoned journalists in the world at 119, including 10 Hong Kong journalists. The RSF described China as the “world’s largest prison for journalists,” as its regime conducts a campaign of repression against journalism and the right to information worldwide.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to