Taiwanese journalists barred from UN gig

TAIWANESE JOURNALISTS won't be allowed in to cover the World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva later this month because Taiwan is not a state recognized by the UN General Assembly, the Taipei Times reports.

Journalists wishing to attend the shindig must be from bona-fide media organizations, said the UN Office at Geneva (UNOG). Bona fide means: "formally registered as a media organization in a country recognized by the United Nations General Assembly," says the office.

A UN official cited UN resolution 2758 from 1971 to the Times. The resolution does not mention Taiwan by name, but does say representatives of the People's Republic of China are "the only legitimate representatives of China to the United Nations" and says it decided to "expel forthwith the representatives of Chiang Kai-shek from the place which they unlawfully occupy at the United Nations and in all the organizations related to it."

Top of the list of UNOG press releases on its website is a document promoting World Press Freedom Day. Various dignitaries are wheeled out to pay "tribute to the courage and professionalism of the numerous journalists and other media professionals either killed or wounded on account of their professional activities".

Those still alive or uninjured obviously aren't doing their jobs properly. µ

L'INQs
Taipei Times piece
UNOG
Taiwan and the UN