It may not have been overly dramatic of the Wild Strawberries Student Movement to stage a mock memorial service for human rights this week at the clumsily named National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall. Pan-green politicians are being held for days on end without charge; serious allegations of excessive use of force have been leveled at police; and the true purpose of the Assembly and Parade Law (集會遊行法) came into sharp focus this month.
Though far from dead, civil rights essential to democracy are on a slippery slope.
All the more cause for alarm was Minister of Justice Wang Ching-feng’s (王清峰) letter to the Taipei Times yesterday. Wang took an astonishing stance against the facts to rebut allegations leveled at prosecutors.
Despite the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) claims during its time as an opposition party that the judiciary was biased, Wang wrote in a letter to the Taipei Times that it is “quite simply untrue” that the nation’s “judicial system is susceptible to political manipulation.”
Kudos to Wang, who just might be the most optimistic person in Taiwan on this subject.
Wang dismissed claims that prosecutors were bending over backwards to please the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九). The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) figures arrested recently were all charged within 24 hours, she said.
This, unfortunately, is also “simply untrue,” raising concerns that Wang did not mean what she wrote or lacks a basic grasp of the legal system. Yunlin County Commissioner Su Chih-fen (蘇治芬), for example, was held for more than a week without charge. Former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) remains in custody — without charge — as the ministry applies pressure on his lawyer to stop talking to the media.
Wang promised in her letter there would be “absolutely no erosion of justice in Taiwan, no matter who the accused is.” This is a noble pledge, but it will take more than words from the minister to make her argument: The actions of prosecutors speak louder.
NGOs and observers abroad are closely watching the situation. In the past months, Taiwan, which normally draws little concern from human rights groups, has fallen into their radar.
The International Federation of Journalists has condemned the government’s “apparent interference in state-owned media” after both the Central News Agency and Radio Taiwan International complained of pressure from the authorities. The International Federation for Human Rights is concerned that police action during the visit of Chinese envoy Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) curbed the freedom of speech of protesters. Reporters without Borders also expressed concern over the detention of a journalist covering the visit.
Likewise, the arrests of the DPP figures prompted a joint open letter from international experts, to which Wang’s letter was a confused response.
It should be amply clear that the actions of the current administration are not going unnoticed. At this point, convincing the Wild Strawberries and other skeptical voices at home and abroad that the nation’s human rights are as healthy today as they were a year ago will take a concerted effort indeed.
Unless the administration moves fast to remedy the situation, its reputation, like the nation’s human rights, will continue to erode.
In the event of a war with China, Taiwan has some surprisingly tough defenses that could make it as difficult to tackle as a porcupine: A shoreline dotted with swamps, rocks and concrete barriers; conscription for all adult men; highways and airports that are built to double as hardened combat facilities. This porcupine has a soft underbelly, though, and the war in Iran is exposing it: energy. About 39,000 ships dock at Taiwan’s ports each year, more than the 30,000 that transit the Strait of Hormuz. About one-fifth of their inbound tonnage is coal, oil, refined fuels and liquefied natural gas (LNG),
To counter the CCP’s escalating threats, Taiwan must build a national consensus and demonstrate the capability and the will to fight. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) often leans on a seductive mantra to soften its threats, such as “Chinese do not kill Chinese.” The slogan is designed to frame territorial conquest (annexation) as a domestic family matter. A look at the historical ledger reveals a different truth. For the CCP, being labeled “family” has never been a guarantee of safety; it has been the primary prerequisite for state-sanctioned slaughter. From the forced starvation of 150,000 civilians at the Siege of Changchun
The two major opposition parties, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), jointly announced on Tuesday last week that former TPP lawmaker Chang Chi-kai (張啟楷) would be their joint candidate for Chiayi mayor, following polling conducted earlier this month. It is the first case of blue-white (KMT-TPP) cooperation in selecting a joint candidate under an agreement signed by their chairpersons last month. KMT and TPP supporters have blamed their 2024 presidential election loss on failing to decide on a joint candidate, which ended in a dramatic breakdown with participants pointing fingers, calling polls unfair, sobbing and walking
In recent weeks, Taiwan has witnessed a surge of public anxiety over the possible introduction of Indian migrant workers. What began as a policy signal from the Ministry of Labor quickly escalated into a broader controversy. Petitions gathered thousands of signatures within days, political figures issued strong warnings, and social media became saturated with concerns about public safety and social stability. At first glance, this appears to be a straightforward policy question: Should Taiwan introduce Indian migrant workers or not? However, this framing is misleading. The current debate is not fundamentally about India. It is about Taiwan’s labor system, its
RSS