Taiwan’s democracy ranking dropped once again in the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index, this time falling one place to 37th position. This year is the third year that Taiwan has fallen in the ranking.
The country has dropped every year since the first edition of the index was released in 2007.
Among 165 independent states and two territories covered by the survey, published in 2007, 2008, last year and this month, the index ranked Taiwan 32nd, 33rd, 36th, and 37th respectively.
The index measures democratic performance using 60 indicators grouped into five categories and rated on a scale of zero to 10, with 10 being the highest.
In this year’s report, Taiwan scored 9.58 in the category of electoral process and pluralism, 7.14 in functioning of government, 5.56 in political participation, 5.63 in political culture and 9.41 in civil liberties, with an overall score of 7.46.
Taiwan scored the same score in the first four categories as last year, but in the civil liberty category its rating fell 0.3 points.
Taiwan’s overall score last year stood at 7.52.
According to the report, Taiwan is one of 53 countries with “flawed democracies,” which account for 37.1 percent of world population.
Twenty-five countries, or 11.3 percent of world population, ranked as “full democracies,” 37 nations (14 percent) are “hybrid regimes” and 52 countries (37.6 percent) live under “authoritarian regimes.”
Flawed democracies are countries that have free and fair elections and respect basic civil liberties, even if there are problems in other aspects of democracy, such as infringements on media freedoms, problems in governance, an underdeveloped political culture and low levels of political participation.
Japan and South Korea are the only two Asian countries among the 25 full democracies.
China dropped from 136th last year to 141st this year, but its overall score remained 3.14.
Hong Kong maintained its ranking at No. 80 from last year, with an overall score of 5.92.
The report said this year was an exceptionally turbulent year politically, characterized by sovereign debt crises and weak political leadership in the developed world, dramatic change and conflict in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as rising social unrest throughout much of the world.
The report found that backsliding in democracy this year was concentrated in Europe.
Seven countries in Western Europe had seen a decline in their democracy score this year, while none had an increase, it said.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique