Press release
May 11th, 2024
Published: 7.30pm, May 11th 2024
By: Taiwan Foreign Correspondents’ Club
To: All media contacts
On May 10th, the Taiwan Foreign Correspondents’ Club (TFCC, 台灣外國記者會) hosted the awards ceremony of the “2024 Human Rights Press Awards in Asia” (亞洲人權新聞獎) in Taipei, with Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen, Elaine Pearson of Human Rights Watch and Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu as guests of honor.
President Tsai and Ms Pearson addressed an audience of foreign correspondents, Taiwanese journalists, government officials and diplomats, and members and supporters of the TFCC.
The ceremony celebrated the 2024 winners and runners-up, who were announced on May 3rd. The seven categories of awards are jointly administered by Human Rights Watch, the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University, the Reynolds Center, and the foreign correspondents’ clubs in both Thailand and Taiwan.
Emily Y. Wu, Executive Producer of Ghost Island Media, and Staś Butler, Asia Correspondent for Sky News Australia, hosted the evening as emcees.
Sponsors of the evening were UMC founder and philanthropist Robert Tsao, Formosa Transnational, Eiger, the Democratic Progressive Party’s Department of International Affairs, US Taiwan Watch, Ghost Island Media, and the Formosa Republican Association.
The top winners included reporting on the rising number of suicides among Afghan women living under abusive Taliban rule; the persecution of religious minorities in Myanmar; and the Chinese government’s treatment of White Paper protesters who stood up against Covid-19 lockdowns. Several of the winners and runners-up traveled to Taiwan to accept their awards in person.
The Human Rights Press Awards have a long and distinguished history of recognizing outstanding reporting on human rights issues in Asia. They were previously administered by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Hong Kong. But after the Chinese government imposed a national security law in Hong Kong, the awards were put on hold in 2022.
Thompson Chau, President of the Taiwan Foreign Correspondents’ Club said:
“Congratulations to this year’s HRPA award winners. It was a huge honor for the TFCC to host the Human Rights Press Awards ceremony in Taipei. We are grateful to President Tsai Ing-wen, Elaine Pearson of Human Rights Watch, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu and the award winners for joining the ceremony in person. We want to express gratitude to Robert Tsao and other sponsors whose generosity made the celebration possible.”
“In recent years the TFCC has stepped up our activities and advocacy at a time Taiwan has evolved into an important hub for correspondents covering this part of the world. Internationally, hosting the Human Rights Press Awards ceremony in Taipei is highly symbolic, as it reflects Taiwan’s hard-won media freedom and growing relevance on the world stage.”
“It’s little coincidence that a number of winning entries are examples of courageous and hard-hitting journalism from Afghanistan, Hong Kong, and Myanmar, places where reporting has become increasingly difficult and dangerous.”
David Demes, Vice President of the Taiwan Foreign Correspondents’ Club said:
“At a time when press freedom is threatened across the region and beyond, Taiwan’s strong support for a free press shines as a crucial counterexample. The presence of President Tsai and Foreign Minister Wu at the Human Rights Press Awards underscores the country’s deep commitment to human rights and press freedom.”
To read and view the HRPA winning entries:
In English: https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/05/03/asia-2024-human-rights-press-awards
In Chinese: https://www.hrw.org/zh-hant/news/2024/05/03/asia-2024-human-rights-press-awards
Transcript of President Tsai’s keynote speech:
In English: https://english.president.gov.tw/NEWS/6716
In Chinese: https://www.president.gov.tw/NEWS/28392
Transcript of TFCC President Thompson Chau’s speech:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aYAEh-WrVN1R6XK1NEOVRmcnBlln3Vrj/view?usp=sharing
Photos of the ceremony:
Please access via https://we.tl/t-NqBUptvTmO and credit “Annabelle Chih and Taiwan Foreign Correspondents’ Club”.
Notes to Editors:
The Taiwan Foreign Correspondents’ Club (TFCC, 台灣外國記者會) is committed to promoting the professional interests of foreign correspondents in Taiwan. The TFCC organizes high-level briefings, networking events and informative programmes of interest for foreign correspondents and members, and fosters engagement between the foreign press and the Taiwanese government and relevant stakeholders. Contact: info@taiwanfcc.org