Media analysts are criticizing a Thai broadcaster's decision to delete an interview with a leading Taiwan official after China's embassy in Bangkok complained.
Thai Public Broadcasting Service, or Thai PBS, aired the interview with Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu on November 3. The interview, in which Wu criticized Chinese pressure to reunify Taiwan with the mainland, was subsequently posted on the Thai PBS YouTube channel.
On November 11, China's embassy in Bangkok issued a statement on social media criticizing the interview.
Taiwan, with a population of 23 million, is self-governed but claimed by China, which insists Taiwan is a breakaway province that will one day be "reunified" with the mainland.
The embassy statement labeled Wu a "Taiwan separatist" and said that the interview "hurt the feelings of the Chinese."
China's state-media Global Times, also chipped in with public criticism. The outlet did not name Thai PBS but called for Thai media to "correct relevant wrongdoings."
Shortly after those statements, the Thai PBS interview disappeared from the broadcaster's YouTube channel without explanation.
The Thai Senate Foreign Affairs Committee in a public statement Tuesday said it had confirmed that the interview had been suspended.
"We also asked Thai PBS to cooperate by using caution in publishing further programs of such nature," the statement said. "Our committee calls for all parties to adhere to One China Policy, which Thailand follows [and] maintain good bilateral relations."
One China policy
The One China policy, recognized by Thailand and 180 others, states there is only one sovereign state under the name of China. However it leaves ambiguous the status of Taiwan, at least as it is understood by the United States and some other countries.
Media analysts for years have documented efforts by Chinese officials to pressure foreign news outlets over coverage deemed critical of Beijing's policies.
A 2022 report by Freedom House found China's had tried to influence foreign media in 18 of 30 democracies. Thailand was not included in the study, but the researchers identified trends such as harassment of local media. across the democracies studied.
Wu — the minister interviewed by Thai PBS — commented on X, formerly Twitter, about the interview's removal, saying China's criticism of Thai media is "too funny to be true."
"China ranks the world's worst in press freedom but lectures the press in Thailand on how to be free," part of the post stated.
China, which is one of the largest jailers of journalists globally, has the second worst environment for media globally, according to the World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders.
The removal of the interview did not surprise Thai commentators.
"Totally expected," said Wasana Wongsurawat, an associate professor and China specialist at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University.
"Thai PBS is under more pressure from the government because they are using tax money, and the government formally recognizes the One China policy. Thai PBS is more prone to such pressure," Wongsurawat told VOA.
Editor calls removal 'damaging' for Thailand
Established in 2008, Thai PBS is the country's first public broadcaster. The media outlet is funded by tax revenue on alcohol and tobacco rather than direct government subsidies. Its website states that any funding must not compromise its independence or public broadcaster mandate.
China is one of Thailand's biggest trading partners. But in recent years, some journalists and foreign governments have raised concerns about Beijing's growing influence.
"I think they [China] only do this with Thai PBS because they believe Thai PBS could be pressured by the government," said Wongsurawat.
"If it's a private media company or non-governmental company, I don't think the Chinese Embassy would have responded in such a way. People have been talking how China has been trying to influence the Thai media for years."
Jemimah Steinfeld, editor-in-chief at the free expression group Index on Censorship, calls the interview's removal "damaging" for Thailand.
"Sadly, this is not the first time Beijing's long arm has reached into Thailand," said Steinfeld. "It also fits into a broader pattern of Beijing interference abroad, with their sights on the media landscape as one way to control the narrative."
Steinfeld noted that in 2020 China sought an apology from a Danish newspaper over a cartoon related to the coronavirus pandemic. And that a Dutch journalist in 2023 said she had been targeted in an attack aimed at blocking her coverage of Chinese threats abroad.
Prior efforts are documented in Thailand too. In 2021, two Chinese businessmen approached an independent Thai publisher, offering large sums of money if the owners closed down operations.
Sam Yan Press is known for publishing books and translating works on freedom of speech, human rights and democracy, which include critical views of China's central government. The publisher resisted efforts to close it.
Pravit Rojanaphruk, a journalist who covers Thailand at the Bangkok-based Khaosod English, called removal of the Thai PBS interview "alarming."
"This is a very disturbing, alarming incident that will only see further mistrust between China and Thailand, among most democratically minded Thai citizens, not just journalists," he told VOA.
"I think what the Chinese Embassy have failed to note or didn't bother to note is that the Thai press does not always have to toe the line of the Thai government," he added.
"[But] we do understand that the Thai government has a clear one-China policy government."
