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.
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off Yilan at 11:05pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter was located at sea, about 32.3km east of Yilan County Hall, at a depth of 72.8km, CWA data showed There were no immediate reports of damage. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Yilan County area on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. It measured 4 in other parts of eastern, northern and central Taiwan as well as Tainan, and 3 in Kaohsiung and Pingtung County, and 2 in Lienchiang and Penghu counties and 1
FOREIGN INTERFERENCE: Beijing would likely intensify public opinion warfare in next year’s local elections to prevent Lai from getting re-elected, the ‘Yomiuri Shimbun’ said Internal documents from a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company indicated that China has been using the technology to intervene in foreign elections, including propaganda targeting Taiwan’s local elections next year and presidential elections in 2028, a Japanese newspaper reported yesterday. The Institute of National Security of Vanderbilt University obtained nearly 400 pages of documents from GoLaxy, a company with ties to the Chinese government, and found evidence that it had apparently deployed sophisticated, AI-driven propaganda campaigns in Hong Kong and Taiwan to shape public opinion, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported. GoLaxy provides insights, situation analysis and public opinion-shaping technology by conducting network surveillance
Taiwan is gearing up to celebrate the New Year at events across the country, headlined by the annual countdown and Taipei 101 fireworks display at midnight. Many of the events are to be livesteamed online. See below for lineups and links: Taipei Taipei’s New Year’s Party 2026 is to begin at 7pm and run until 1am, with the theme “Sailing to the Future.” South Korean girl group KARA is headlining the concert at Taipei City Hall Plaza, with additional performances by Amber An (安心亞), Nick Chou (周湯豪), hip-hop trio Nine One One (玖壹壹), Bii (畢書盡), girl group Genblue (幻藍小熊) and more. The festivities are to
AFTERMATH: The Taipei City Government said it received 39 minor incident reports including gas leaks, water leaks and outages, and a damaged traffic signal A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off Taiwan’s northeastern coast late on Saturday, producing only two major aftershocks as of yesterday noon, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The limited aftershocks contrast with last year’s major earthquake in Hualien County, as Saturday’s earthquake occurred at a greater depth in a subduction zone. Saturday’s earthquake struck at 11:05pm, with its hypocenter about 32.3km east of Yilan County Hall, at a depth of 72.8km. Shaking was felt in 17 administrative regions north of Tainan and in eastern Taiwan, reaching intensity level 4 on Taiwan’s seven-tier seismic scale, the CWA said. In Hualien, the
RSS