TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan moved up three spots to No. 35 on the 2023 World Press Freedom Index announced by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on Wednesday (May 3), while China ranked No. 179 out of 180 countries listed.

Norway finished first for the seventh year running, followed by Ireland and Denmark. The first Asian country on the list, at No. 10, was Timor-Leste, the former Portuguese colony in Southeast Asia later occupied by Indonesia.

New Zealand and Australia finished ahead of Taiwan, but the next Asian country on the list was South Korea at No. 47. The bottom end was filled by three communist Asian countries, Vietnam at No. 178, China falling four spots to No. 179, and North Korea at No. 180.

The RSF described China as “the world’s biggest jailer of journalists and press freedom advocates” and one of the biggest exporters of propaganda. Taiwan, on the other hand, was mentioned along with New Zealand and Samoa as a functional democracy that had perfected its role as a regional model for press freedom.

On a global scale, RSF named the “fake content industry” as the most serious threat to press freedom over the past year. Artificial intelligence was also mentioned as a danger, as it can synthesize and distribute realistic fake images as well as false information.