RSF receives Taiwan’s support to its actions for journalism in Ukraine

In a press release published on Friday 29th of April, 2022, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China (Taiwan) has announced a contribution of half-a-million US dollars (approximately 450,000 euros), through the Taipei Representative Office in France, in support of Reporters Without Borders’ (RSF) actions towards aiding journalism in Ukraine. Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24th of February, 2022, disinformation has been escalating and attacks directly targeting journalists have been increasing with at least seven reporters killed and 11 injured by gunfire.

“Thousands of reporters are currently risking their lives to show the world the reality of the Russian invasion in Ukraine” says RSF Secretary General Christophe Deloire. “This donation not only allows us to strengthen our on-the-ground actions by providing these journalists with more protection gear and security training, but it will also help combat the Kremlin’s disinformation campaign to justify its invasion of Ukraine”.

On 11th of March, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) launched a Press Freedom Centre in Lviv, western Ukraine, in partnership with the Institute of Mass Information (IMI) and the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU) and with the financial support of many institutional and private donors.

Within one month, the centre ordered 541 bullet-proof vests and 490 tactical helmets, part of which are readily available to reporters covering the conflict. A total of 78 journalists also received physical and psychological safety training while 65 journalists and 15 media received emergency financial assistance. RSF’s Safety Guide for Journalists, a guidebook produced in partnership with UNESCO, has also been translated into Ukrainian.

Taiwan, contentiously claimed by the People's Republic of China (PRC), is the only democracy of the Chinese-speaking world, and ranks 43rd over 180 in the 2021 RSF World Press Freedom Index. In July 2017, a few months after the opening of the RSF regional office in Taipei, President Tsai Ing-wen received the association’s delegation and expressed her support for the cause of press freedom.