I acknowledge the disappointment of those Affiliates, and movement in
general this is worth a statement from the WMF but its very poor politics
to single out China.

It reads as if its almost an AUKUS driven
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AUKUS> press release, I think its wrong to
ignore the other countries like Russia, Belarus, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan, Iran, Syria, Algeria, Zimbabwe, Nicaragua, Cuba, Bolivia,
Venezuela, and North Korea(thanks Andreas i copied your list rather than
typing).  Our biggest pillar is being neutral in how we present information
and the WMF should never take a stance of breaking that neutrality on an
issue without first seeking community support as was done with SOPA. Its
that aspect I find more disappointing than not being admitted to WIPO as
permanent members.

As a side issue I would also question the motivation around the underlying
reason for Affiliates  trying to do this whether its a back door move by
the WMF due to it being rejected twice previously. It makes me wonder what
other strings are being attached to funding for what should be independent
Affiliates.

Gnangarra


On Tue, 26 Jul 2022 at 07:52, The Cunctator <cuncta...@gmail.com> wrote:

> 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 <jayen...@gmail.com> 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 <jgerl...@wikimedia.org>
>> 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
>>> jgerl...@wikimedia.org
>>>
>>>
>>> Andreas Kolbe <jayen...@gmail.com> 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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-- 
GN.
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