Amid criticism from lawmakers over the government’s rebuttal of concerns over the political turmoil in Taiwan voiced by a group of foreign observers, Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lin (林永樂) yesterday defended the move, saying it was made to “maintain a [positive] public image of the country.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday night sent a rebuttal to the media in response to the statement, which was co-signed by 30 international academics and writers, and published on the op-ed page in the Taipei Times on Monday.
At a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee yesterday where Lin was present, several Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers panned the ministry for its refuting of the international critics.
Getting involved in the case was “way outside the purview of the foreign ministry,” DPP Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) said. “Was it an act toadying to [President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九)]?”
The points the foreign observers made were “poignant” suggestions for reform to democracy in Taiwan because that is what they have been constantly concerned about, Tsai said.
“The foreign ministry has missed their points,” he said.
In light of Ma’s “political use” of the Special Investigation Division of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office and his “interference in the judicial system over the past years, as well as his most recent attempt to remove Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) from office over an alleged undue influence case,” the critics said they are deeply concerned about the “backsliding of freedom, democracy, and human rights” under the Ma administration.
“While an erosion of democracy and justice has been ongoing since this administration assumed office in 2008, recent events constitute a fundamental breach of the basic principles of separation of powers and checks and balances in a democracy,” the foreign observers said.
The ministry said it “highly regretted” that the foreign observers made the allegations against the Ma administration based on their “lack of sufficient understanding” about the situation in Taiwan and their “prejudice.”
While the ministry has always held international friends who have long cared for the development of constitutional democracy in Taiwan in high regard, the criticism leveled under the circumstances was both “unnecessary” and “unfair,” the ministry said in the statement.
“As a country under democratic rules, the nation embraces diversity of opinions. [However,] the Ministry of Foreign Affairs hopes that the few international friends can show respect for our country’s democratic process and legal procedures … Just like what they have said in the statement that ‘it is up to the people and political system of Taiwan to resolve the crisis,’” the ministry said.
At this moment in time when the recent cases are being dealt with according to the law in Taiwan, the “dissent” expressed by people who are “something of an outsider” not only affected international perceptions of Taiwan, but also unilaterally negated the achievements the government and people of Taiwan have made in pursuing democracy and human rights, the ministry said.
“It did enhancing democracy and the rule of law in our country no good,” it said.
In response to questions from DPP Legislator Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩), Lin said he signed off on the ministry’s statement before it was released to the press.
The ministry issued the rebuttal because the statement sponsored by the foreign observers “has tarnished the image of the country,” Lin said, adding that the ministry did not aim to interpret the controversies surrounding the recent events, but to “maintain a [positive] public image of the country.”
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
The government is considering polices to increase rental subsidies for people living in social housing who get married and have children, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. During an interview with the Plain Law Movement (法律白話文) podcast, Cho said that housing prices cannot be brought down overnight without affecting banks and mortgages. Therefore, the government is focusing on providing more aid for young people by taking 3 to 5 percent of urban renewal projects and zone expropriations and using that land for social housing, he said. Single people living in social housing who get married and become parents could obtain 50 percent more
DEMOGRAPHICS: Robotics is the most promising answer to looming labor woes, the long-term care system and national contingency response, an official said Taiwan is to launch a five-year plan to boost the robotics industry in a bid to address labor shortages stemming from a declining and aging population, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The government approved the initiative, dubbed the Smart Robotics Industry Promotion Plan, via executive order, senior officials told a post-Cabinet meeting news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s population decline would strain the economy and the nation’s ability to care for vulnerable and elderly people, said Peter Hong (洪樂文), who heads the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC) Department of Engineering and Technologies. Projections show that the proportion of Taiwanese 65 or older would
Democracies must remain united in the face of a shifting geopolitical landscape, former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) told the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on Tuesday, while emphasizing the importance of Taiwan’s security to the world. “Taiwan’s security is essential to regional stability and to defending democratic values amid mounting authoritarianism,” Tsai said at the annual forum in the Danish capital. Noting a “new geopolitical landscape” in which global trade and security face “uncertainty and unpredictability,” Tsai said that democracies must remain united and be more committed to building up resilience together in the face of challenges. Resilience “allows us to absorb shocks, adapt under
RSS