The United States government says it is “deeply concerned” about the way an official United Nations (UN) body reacted to internet users who called out the organisation over its treatment of Taiwan. Last week, the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) started to block people en masse on Twitter after they questioned ICAO’s policy on Taiwan.
Taiwan hasn’t had a seat on ICAO’s board since 2013 because of pressure exerted by China. While Taiwan sees itself as an independent country, the Chinese authorities believe Taiwan should be rightfully part of the People’s Republic of China and has pressurised international companies and organisations under its “one country” policy.
In the past, Beijing has threatened to push companies out of China who merely listed Taiwan as a separate country on their international websites. At ICAO, the self-governing island of Taiwan doesn’t have a voice because China believes it speaks on behalf of Taipei.
Want to drive the point home that two orgs, @WHO & @icao, refuse to share knowledge w/ Taiwan authorities. This means civil aviation authorities for one of busiest regional airports do not receive up-to-date info on any potential ICAO-WHO efforts.
This is how a virus spreads. https://t.co/g4XR3O3K3B
— Jessica Drun (@jessicadrun) January 22, 2020
It’s an ongoing diplomatic nightmare but in the midst of a growing novel Coronavirus outbreak that originated in China, there are renewed concerns about excluding Taiwan from sharing what might be vital information.
Last week, Jessica Drun, a non-resident fellow at the Taiwan-focused Project 2049 Institute criticised ICAO in a Tweet and promptly got blocked by the UN body.
Drun protested and hundreds of other people, including lawmakers and political analysts started to reference ICAO in Tweets over Taiwan’s exclusion. Suddenly, ICAO started to block users en masse.
By last Tuesday, the case had gone viral and ICAO addressed the issue on its own Twitter account, saying it couldn’t answer “genuine queries” because of an “unusually large amount of spam”. It then posted a reminder of its social media policy, although it’s not clear whether any of the critical Tweets actually breached its policy.
“Blocking Twitter users who make reference to Taiwan’s participation in international organizations, particularly given the global response to the coronavirus crisis, is outrageous, unacceptable, and not befitting of a UN organization,” read a statement from the State Department on Saturday.
Due to an unusually large amount of spam, we are unfortunately unable to answer genuine queries at this time. As we are committed to empowering the public, media and civil society through information sharing, we regret the inconvenience.
— ICAO (@icao) January 28, 2020
“Taiwan has a relevant and credible voice on transnational health issues, and the United States has long supported its active engagement in international venues, including ICAO, where its expertise can be beneficial,” the statement continued.
The U.S. government has called on ICAO to immediately reverse its practice of blocking users, “understanding that freedom of expression must always supersede the political insecurities of member states.”
Contrary to some claims, ICAO welcomes and *encourages* constructive criticism. We agree that our social media rules should provide more clarity about what we consider unacceptable, and we have updated them: https://t.co/SR1hnWeWoM
— ICAO (@icao) January 30, 2020
ICAO has since said it welcomes and “*encourages* constructive criticism,” saying that it would update its social media roles accordingly. Taiwan remains excluded from ICAO.
