A resolution urging Taiwan’s government to strengthen its protection of democratic values and human rights was introduced in the US Senate on Thursday.
The resolution was prompted by a recently released report by the International Election Observation Mission (IEOM) that concluded Taiwan’s January elections were “mostly free, but only partly fair.” The IEOM report said there were some“worrying factors” that may have affected the election outcome including vote buying, violations of administrative neutrality and China’s attempts to influence the vote.
It also added that some actions and statements by the US government “revealed a lack of neutrality.”
The Senate resolution was introduced jointly by Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski and Democratic Senator Mark Begich.
Included in the resolution were three major recommendations: The government of Taiwan should continue to strengthen its protection of democratic values and human rights, including freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and freedom of the press; Taiwan should take into consideration the conclusions and recommendations of international election monitors as it seeks to strengthen its democracy; and that the future of Taiwan should be resolved peacefully, in accordance with democratic principles.
“Taiwan’s free and open society plays a stabilizing role in the Asia- Pacific region and is thus conducive to the interests of states in the region, including the US, in furthering peace, prosperity and stability,” the resolution said.
It also stressed that the US government should continue to support democracy and human rights in Taiwan.
Former Alaska governor Frank Murkowski (Senator Murkowski’s father), who led the IEOM mission said: “I am pleased to see the work of our mission culminating in the insertion of the report into the Congressional Record. It is a signal that much work still remains to be done in terms of fairness of the elections and establishing a level playing field.”
The IEOM was invited to Taiwan by Peng Ming-min (彭明敏), chairman of the International Committee for Fair Elections in Taiwan.
“This helps us in Taiwan in our fight to protect the values of democracy, human rights and freedom of speech, assembly and the press,” Peng said. “There has been an erosion of these values during the past four years and we want to ensure that Taiwan remains a free democracy.”
Mark Kao (高龍榮), president of the Washington-based Formosan Association for Public Affairs, also praised the introduction of the resolution.
“Each election in Taiwan’s young democracy represents a precious opportunity to improve its capacity for democratic practice,” he said.
People can preregister to receive their NT$10,000 (US$325) cash distributed from the central government on Nov. 5 after President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday signed the Special Budget for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience, the Executive Yuan told a news conference last night. The special budget, passed by the Legislative Yuan on Friday last week with a cash handout budget of NT$236 billion, was officially submitted to the Executive Yuan and the Presidential Office yesterday afternoon. People can register through the official Web site at https://10000.gov.tw to have the funds deposited into their bank accounts, withdraw the funds at automated teller
PEACE AND STABILITY: Maintaining the cross-strait ‘status quo’ has long been the government’s position, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan is committed to maintaining the cross-strait “status quo” and seeks no escalation of tensions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday, rebutting a Time magazine opinion piece that described President William Lai (賴清德) as a “reckless leader.” The article, titled “The US Must Beware of Taiwan’s Reckless Leader,” was written by Lyle Goldstein, director of the Asia Program at the Washington-based Defense Priorities think tank. Goldstein wrote that Taiwan is “the world’s most dangerous flashpoint” amid ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He said that the situation in the Taiwan Strait has become less stable
CONCESSION: A Shin Kong official said that the firm was ‘willing to contribute’ to the nation, as the move would enable Nvidia Crop to build its headquarters in Taiwan Shin Kong Life Insurance Co (新光人壽) yesterday said it would relinquish land-use rights, or known as surface rights, for two plots in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投), paving the way for Nvidia Corp to expand its office footprint in Taiwan. The insurer said it made the decision “in the interest of the nation’s greater good” and would not seek compensation from taxpayers for potential future losses, calling the move a gesture to resolve a months-long impasse among the insurer, the Taipei City Government and the US chip giant. “The decision was made on the condition that the Taipei City Government reimburses the related
FRESH LOOK: A committee would gather expert and public input on the themes and visual motifs that would appear on the notes, the central bank governor said The central bank has launched a comprehensive redesign of New Taiwan dollar banknotes to enhance anti-counterfeiting measures, improve accessibility and align the bills with global sustainability standards, Governor Yang Chin-long (楊金龍) told a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee yesterday. The overhaul would affect all five denominations — NT$100, NT$200, NT$500, NT$1,000 and NT$2,000 notes — but not coins, Yang said. It would be the first major update to the banknotes in 24 years, as the current series, introduced in 2001, has remained in circulation amid rapid advances in printing technology and security standards. “Updating the notes is essential to safeguard the integrity
RSS