Carl Gershman, president of the Washington-based National Endowment for Democracy (NED), has written to President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), calling on him not to interfere with the structure and policies of the highly respected Taiwan Foundation for Democracy (TFD).
It has been widely reported that the Ma administration intends to make major changes to the foundation’s governing board and to stop it from offering financial support to pro-democracy movements in China, Tibet and Cuba.
Sources in Taipei said the impending moves were triggered by complaints from Beijing at a time when Ma is making numerous concessions to improve cross-strait relations.
Gershman’s letter, sent last week, said: “It has come to my attention through reports in the press that broad changes are being proposed for the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy. I am concerned that such an overhaul could well compromise both the Foundation’s independence and the quality of its work.”
While the NED may be the only organization to quickly react this strongly, a number of Washington-based groups — including Freedom House and the Formosan Association for Public Affairs — are known to be deeply concerned about reports of Ma’s alleged plans to interfere with and restrict the TFD.
Several members of US Congress are also worried about the situation, but have decided to wait until Ma officially makes his plans known before reacting.
Gershman said the TFD had enjoyed a close relationship with the 25-year-old NED since the TFD was founded in 2003.
He said in the letter that the TFD had “burnished” Taiwan’s reputation as a democracy.
“The TFD has been able to fulfill its promise over the last six years because of two attributes that have also contributed to the NED’s success,” Gershman said.
“The first is its independence and arms-length relationship to the government that have enabled it to carry out its mission free of political interference or control; and the second is a commitment to bipartisanship in its governance, so that no matter which party is in government, the operations and basic direction of the Foundation will remain constant,” he said.
The high quality of TFD’s work, Gershman said, has brought democrats throughout Asia together in a network and has had a strong regional impact, enabling Taiwan’s voice to be heard in key international forums.
“I am concerned that a major overhaul of the Foundation’s leadership would have serious consequences in terms of the continuity of work currently underway. But I am even more troubled by the negative message it would send to those who have regarded the Foundation as an expression not of one particular partisan point of view but rather as an expression of the commitment of the people of Taiwan to democratic solidarity,” he said.
“We hope that our fears are unfounded and that the Foundation will continue on a steady path. I believe this would greatly benefit Taiwan and would also serve the cause of democracy worldwide,” he said.
SILENCING CRITICS: In addition to blocking Taiwan, China aimed to prevent rights activists from speaking out against authoritarian states, a Cabinet department said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday condemned transnational repression by Beijing after RightsCon, a major digital human rights conference scheduled to be held in Zambia this week, was abruptly canceled due to Chinese pressure over Taiwanese participation. This year’s RightsCon, the world’s largest conference discussing issues “at the intersection of human rights and technology,” was scheduled to take place from tomorrow to Friday in Lusaka, and expected to draw 2,600 in-person attendees from 150 countries, along with 1,100 online participants. However, organizers were forced to cancel the event due to behind-the-scenes pressure from China, the ministry said, expressing its “strongest condemnation”
Taiwan’s economy grew far faster than expected in the first quarter, as booming demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications drove a surge in exports, spilling over into investment and consumption, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. GDP growth was 13.69 percent year-on-year during the January-to-March period, beating the DGBAS’ February forecast by 2.23 percentage points and marking the most robust growth in nearly four decades, DGBAS senior official Chiang Hsin-yi (江心怡) told a news conference in Taipei. The result was powered by exports, which remain the backbone of Taiwan’s economy, Chiang said. Outbound shipments jumped 51.12 percent year-on-year to
DELAYED BUT DETERMINED: The president’s visit highlights Taiwan’s right to international engagement amid regional pressure from China President Willaim Lai (賴清德) yesterday arrived in Eswatini, more than a week after his planned visit to Taiwan’s sole African ally was suspended because of revoked overflight permits. “The visit, originally scheduled for April 22, was postponed due to unforeseen external factors,” Lai wrote on social media. “After several days of careful arrangements by our diplomatic and national security teams, we successfully arrived today.” Lai said he looked forward to further deepening Taiwan-Eswatini relations through closer cooperation in the economy, agriculture, culture and education, as well as advancing the nation’s international partnerships. The president was initially scheduled to arrive in time to celebrate
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) yesterday said the US faced a choice between an “impossible” military operation or a “bad deal” with Tehran, after US President Donald Trump disparaged Iran’s latest peace proposal. Negotiations between the two countries have been deadlocked since a ceasefire came into effect on April 8, with only one round of direct peace talks held so far. Iran’s Tasnim and Fars news agencies reported that Tehran had submitted a 14-point proposal to mediator Pakistan, but Trump was quick to cast doubt on it. “I will soon be reviewing the plan that Iran has just sent to us, but
RSS