Having read the Foundation press release, I have to say that if it were a
Wikipedia page, I would have edited it since it is quite misleading as
written. I understand the reticence to mention other countries since I
expect you want to portray China as a rogue actor here and I'm sympathetic
to that agenda but, on the other hand, being encyclopedic and truthful
really is kind of our brand.

On Mon, Jul 25, 2022, 11:16 AM Andreas Kolbe <[email protected]> wrote:

> Dear Jan,
>
> Well, the accuracy of the press release would be enhanced if it mentioned
> the support China received from over a dozen other countries.
>
> This isn't just my opinion:
>
> https://twitter.com/Wikiland/status/1550515724673761280
>
> Congratulations on the ECOSOC accreditation.
>
> Andreas
>
>
>
> On Mon, Jul 25, 2022 at 1:36 PM Jan Gerlach <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
>> Hi Andreas
>>
>> China was in fact the only country to oppose the Wikimedia chapters'
>> request for observer status. Other countries for political or unknown
>> reasons may have aligned with China's position on process, but no country
>> besides China unilaterally or independently opposed the Wikimedia chapters'
>> request.
>>
>> Relatedly, you may have seen that the Wikimedia Foundation just obtained
>> accreditation at the UN's Economic and Social Affairs Council where a
>> similar situation was unblocked by a vote of the member countries:
>>
>>
>> https://wikimediafoundation.org/news/2022/07/22/wikimedia-foundation-earns-accreditation-to-the-united-nations-economic-and-social-affairs-council-ecosoc/
>>
>>
>> Best,
>> Jan
>>
>>
>> ==
>>
>>
>>
>> Jan Gerlach
>> Public Policy Director
>> Wikimedia Foundation
>> 1 Montgomery Street, Suite 1600
>> San Francisco, CA 94104
>> [email protected]
>>
>>
>> Andreas Kolbe <[email protected]> schrieb am Fr., 22. Juli 2022, 19:44:
>>
>>> Dear all,
>>>
>>> A week ago, the WMF issued a press release, "Seven Wikimedia chapters
>>> rejected as permanent observers to the World Intellectual Property
>>> Organization (WIPO)":
>>>
>>>
>>> https://wikimediafoundation.org/news/2022/07/15/seven-wikimedia-chapters-rejected-as-permanent-observers-to-wipo/
>>>
>>> This stated, in part, "China was the only country to oppose the
>>> Wikimedia chapters’ request for observer status, again, claiming that
>>> chapters were complicit in spreading disinformation and are subsidiaries of
>>> the Wikimedia Foundation. These statements are unfounded and misrepresent
>>> Wikipedia’s model which prioritizes accuracy, neutrality, as well as the
>>> fact that the chapters are completely autonomous."
>>>
>>> About a week ago, I had seen and retweeted a Twitter thread[1] by James
>>> Love[2], the Director of Knowledge Ecology International, listing a whole
>>> litany of countries that had supported China's position.
>>>
>>> I checked the webcast of the July 15 WIPO proceedings today,[3] and
>>> there were over a dozen countries – Russia, Belarus, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan,
>>> Tajikistan, Iran, Syria, Algeria, Zimbabwe, Nicaragua, Cuba, Bolivia,
>>> Venezuela, North Korea – that took the floor to support and endorse China's
>>> position – more, in fact, than took the floor to support the chapters'
>>> approval.
>>>
>>> Would it be possible to amend the press release accordingly?
>>>
>>> Best,
>>> Andreas
>>>
>>> [1] https://twitter.com/jamie_love/status/1550520525180518400
>>> [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Love_(NGO_director)
>>> [3] Available here: https://webcast.wipo.int/ (afternoon session of
>>> July 15, part 6. Admission of Observers)
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