Concerns about the political independence of prosecutors in Taiwan have “reached new heights,” an annual report issued on Thursday by the US-based human rights watchdog Freedom House said.
In particular, the Special Investigation Division (SID) of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, which is tasked with investigating high-profile cases, was singled out for criticism.
The report highlighted the “political crisis” that erupted in September last year, when President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) attempted to oust Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) based on accusations by the SID.
Despite the SID’s actions, Taiwan won high marks for democracy.
“Taiwan remained one of the best performers in Asia in 2013, as its civil society gained additional ground in influencing political debate and government policy,” the report titled Freedom in the World 2014 said.
The report also mentioned as examples of democracy the National Communications Commission’s rejection of a media conglomerate’s bid to purchase Taiwan’s second-largest cable TV provider and the collapse of efforts by a mostly China-based conglomerate to buy the Taiwanese assets of Hong Kong’s Next Media Group.
“A growing number of social movements led by students and civil society groups took place in Taiwan in 2013, initiatives that in the past had mostly been organized by political parties,” the report said.
On a scale of 1 to 7 — with 1 being the most free and 7 being the most restrictive — Taiwan was given top marks (1) for political rights and near top marks (2) for civil liberties.
This gave the country an overall “freedom rating” of 1.5 and a status of “free” — which was the same as last year.
China was judged “not free,” with the lowest possible rating of 7 for political rights and 6 for civil liberties.
The report said that over the past five years, the Asia-Pacific region has been the only place to record gains in political rights and civil liberties even though it was home to China, where more than half the world’s “not free” population lived, and North Korea, the “least free” country in the world.
“A number of Asia-Pacific countries have made impressive gains in the institutions of electoral democracy — elections, political parties and pluralism — and in freedom of association,” the report said.
Globally, the “state of freedom” declined for the eighth consecutive year.
Particularly notable were developments in Egypt, which endured across-the-board reversals in its democratic institutions following a military coup, the report said.
“There were also serious setbacks in democratic rights in other large, politically influential countries, including Russia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Venezuela and Indonesia,” it said.
Freedom House claims that its annual report is the “oldest, most authoritative report on democracy and human rights.”
Worldwide, 54 countries showed declines in political rights and civil liberties over the past year, while 40 showed gains.
The number of countries designated as “free” stood at 88, representing 45 percent of the world’s 195 countries, and the number qualifying as “partly free” stood at 59 percent or 25 percent of the world total.
There were 48 “not free” countries.
“This was not a year distinguished by political leaders who showed much inclination toward abandoning bitterness and embracing adversaries,” Freedom House vice president Arch Puddington said.
“To make matters worse, some of those who bear responsibility for serious atrocities and acts of repression were not only spared the world’s opprobrium, but in some cases drew admiring comments for their strong leadership and statesmanship,” Puddington said.
He said that despite official rhetoric about fighting corruption, improving the rule of law and inviting input from society, the new Chinese Communist Party leadership under President Xi Jinping (習近平) had proven even more intolerant of dissent than its predecessors.
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