Reports that Taiwan’s democracy and freedom may have a positive effect on China are not supported by a new US congressional study on human rights and rule of law in China.
The annual bipartisan Congressional-Executive Commission on China report issued this week paints a bleak picture of rights in China.
“Amid talk of a new round of economic reforms under [Chinese] President Xi Jinping (習近平), this year’s report serves as an important reminder that China is no closer to granting its citizens basic human rights than when China entered the World Trade Organization nearly 12 years ago,” the commission’s chairman, Senator Sherrod Brown, said.
“Increased trade ties have not improved working conditions or the environment and Chinese citizens still do not enjoy the freedoms of expression, assembly and religion to which they are entitled under international law,” Brown said.
In the strongest terms used to date, the report underscores the abuse of women and the draconian repressive policies that remain firmly in place in China, co-chairman of the commission, US Representative Chris Smith said.
The report said that Xi and other top Chinese leaders began their tenure by suggesting openness to reforms and limits on official power.
However, Chinese officials soon cracked down on calls for human rights and rule of law, labeling them the product of anti-China forces and targeting individuals who called for officials to disclose their assets, according to the report.
This was despite a series of predictions made by experts in Taiwan and the US over the past few years that Taiwan’s democratic society would be a good example for China to follow.
Taiwan’s democracy is an “amazing development” that will ultimately have a very significant influence on China, Hoover Institution senior fellow Larry Diamond said last year.
Only last month, David Lorenzo, associate professor at the College of International Affairs at National Chengchi University, said that Taiwan’s democracy was a positive encouragement for people in China.
However, Lorenzo warned that political reform would not be easy in China because ensuring its grip on power was more important to the Chinese government.
The report said that by spring this year, it became clear that hopes that China’s new leaders would engage with, or even tolerate, public discussion on issues such as constitutionalism and anticorruption would remain “unfulfilled.”
By last month, nearly 60 individuals in China had been detained, arrested or “disappeared” following crackdowns on freedom of expression, the report said.
“When the [Chinese Communist] Party’s interests are involved, China remains very much a country ruled by the party and not by laws,” the report said.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source
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