SINCE ITS ESTABLISHMENT in 1941, the US-based international nongovernmental organization for human rights Freedom House has devoted itself to research on and advocating democracy and freedom around the world. It now plays a crucial role in the fight for freedom in the international community.
Freedom House held the global release of its most important publication, Freedom in the World, in Taipei last Tuesday. There was a special significance behind the release in Taiwan: Aside from affirming the achievements over the years in terms of democracy and freedom that have made Taiwan one of Asia’s most dynamic democracies, Freedom House’s decision to release its report in Taiwan at this time may have been an indication that it is concerned with regression of freedom and rights in Taiwan and the challenges that this poses.
The report is based on evaluations of the political rights and civil liberties of 193 countries and 16 regions. Eighty-nine countries were listed as “free,” 62 as “partly free” and 42 as “not free.” Taiwan was listed as “free,” while China was listed as “not free.”
Looking at past ratings, we can see that Taiwan was not listed as a “free” country in 1973. In 1977, it became “partly free” and has been listed as “free” since 1997. Especially worthy of attention is that in 2006, Taiwan scored a 1 for both political rights and civil liberties, which placed it among the freest countries in the world.
This year, Taiwan scored a 2 for political rights and 1 for civil liberties, which means that Taiwan continues to be ranked as a free country. Despite this ranking, Freedom House still requested that the Taiwanese government work on freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and association, as well as judicial independence.
China, meanwhile, scored 7 — the lowest possible score — for political rights and a 6 for civil liberties. Freedom House criticized China for not fulfilling the promises it made to improve human rights when it was granted the right to host the Olympic Games. Freedom House also said that China was strengthening its control of the Internet and media as well as quelling religious freedoms, meddling in the judiciary and crushing human rights.
As Taiwan continues its way toward freedom and democracy, China belongs with the countries that are being left behind. Obviously, freedom is the biggest thing that separates China and Taiwan, and the Taiwanese people need to cherish and uphold the freedom that we have worked so hard to obtain.
Chen Lung-chu is president of the Taiwan New Century Foundation.
TRANSLATED BY DREW CAMERON
Saudi Arabian largesse is flooding Egypt’s cultural scene, but the reception is mixed. Some welcome new “cooperation” between two regional powerhouses, while others fear a hostile takeover by Riyadh. In Cairo, historically the cultural capital of the Arab world, Egyptian Minister of Culture Nevine al-Kilany recently hosted Saudi Arabian General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki al-Sheikh. The deep-pocketed al-Sheikh has emerged as a Medici-like patron for Egypt’s cultural elite, courted by Cairo’s top talent to produce a slew of forthcoming films. A new three-way agreement between al-Sheikh, Kilany and United Media Services — a multi-media conglomerate linked to state intelligence that owns much of
The US and other countries should take concrete steps to confront the threats from Beijing to avoid war, US Representative Mario Diaz-Balart said in an interview with Voice of America on March 13. The US should use “every diplomatic economic tool at our disposal to treat China as what it is... to avoid war,” Diaz-Balart said. Giving an example of what the US could do, he said that it has to be more aggressive in its military sales to Taiwan. Actions by cross-party US lawmakers in the past few years such as meeting with Taiwanese officials in Washington and Taipei, and
Denmark’s “one China” policy more and more resembles Beijing’s “one China” principle. At least, this is how things appear. In recent interactions with the Danish state, such as applying for residency permits, a Taiwanese’s nationality would be listed as “China.” That designation occurs for a Taiwanese student coming to Denmark or a Danish citizen arriving in Denmark with, for example, their Taiwanese partner. Details of this were published on Sunday in an article in the Danish daily Berlingske written by Alexander Sjoberg and Tobias Reinwald. The pretext for this new practice is that Denmark does not recognize Taiwan as a state under
The Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan has no official diplomatic allies in the EU. With the exception of the Vatican, it has no official allies in Europe at all. This does not prevent the ROC — Taiwan — from having close relations with EU member states and other European countries. The exact nature of the relationship does bear revisiting, if only to clarify what is a very complicated and sensitive idea, the details of which leave considerable room for misunderstanding, misrepresentation and disagreement. Only this week, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) received members of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations