Academics, opinion leaders and strategists from 14 countries will gather tomorrow for the start of the 2002 Asia-Pacific Democratic Cooperation Forum (APDCF) Conference.
President Chen Shui-bian (
James Steinberg, vice president of the US think tank the Brookings Institute, who was deputy national security adviser to former US president Bill Clinton, will be the moderator for the first session of the conference. Discussions will focus on the general development of democratization in the Asia-Pacific region, according to a spokesman for the World League for Freedom and Democracy (WLFD), one of the co-sponsors of the conference.
Presenters of papers at the session will include Odina Desrochers, a member of the Canadian Parliament; Senator Somkiat Onwimon from Thailand; Celia Layus, a Philippine parliamentarian; Yoshihide Soeya, a professor from Japan's Keio University; and Huang Ying-ming, executive director of Taiwan's Asia-Pacific Public Affairs Forum.
Peng Ming-min (
In a joint statement, Peng and Chang said that democracy is the mainstream political value of the 21st century, with universal appeal, and that Taiwan's democratization has brought the country into the global mainstream, as well as making it a leading example of democracy in Asia.
They said cooperation among the emerging regional democratic community is the key to expanding the process to include those societies still suffering under authoritarian rule.
"We believe that a region that enjoys greater democracy and protection of human rights will surely have great benefits for peace in the world," they said in their statement.
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