Taiwan ranked No. 1 among Asian countries and No. 32 in the world on press freedom this year, said the Worldwide Press Freedom Index 2007 released on Tuesday by the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders.
Taiwan ranked No. 43 in the world last year and No. 51 in 2005, the organization said.
Taiwan came ahead of Japan, which ranked No. 37 in the world, and the US, which ranked No. 48 this year. China, meanwhile, ranked No. 163 among the 169 countries measured in the index.
Commenting on Taiwan's improving ranking, Cabinet spokesman Shieh Jhy-wey (
Welcoming the nation's improved ranking, Shieh, who is also minister of the Government Information Office, said it was a result of democratization, in which human rights, freedom of speech and press freedom are fully respected.
"Taiwan's ranking is the pride of all Chinese [sic] communities in the world," Shieh said, adding there is still room for improvement and that the administration would not grow complacent on the subject.
The government will work to continue improving press freedom, with the hope that it will allow the international community to get a better understanding of the developments Taiwan has made on matters of democratization, freedom and human rights, he said.
In this year's report, Iceland ranked No. 1, followed, in order, by Norway, Estonia, Slovakia, Belgium, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Ireland and Portugal. Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea were at the bottom of the list.
Of the 20 countries at the bottom of the list, seven were located in Asia (Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Laos, Vietnam, China, Myanmar and North Korea). Five were in Africa, four were in the Middle East, three were former Soviet republics and one was in the Americas (Cuba).
Beijing could eventually see a full amphibious invasion of Taiwan as the only "prudent" way to bring about unification, the US Department of Defense said in a newly released annual report to Congress. The Pentagon's "Annual Report to Congress: Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China 2025," was in many ways similar to last year’s report but reorganized the analysis of the options China has to take over Taiwan. Generally, according to the report, Chinese leaders view the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) capabilities for a Taiwan campaign as improving, but they remain uncertain about its readiness to successfully seize
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
Taiwan has overtaken South Korea this year in per capita income for the first time in 23 years, IMF data showed. Per capita income is a nation’s GDP divided by the total population, used to compare average wealth levels across countries. Taiwan also beat Japan this year on per capita income, after surpassing it for the first time last year, US magazine Newsweek reported yesterday. Across Asia, Taiwan ranked fourth for per capita income at US$37,827 this year due to sustained economic growth, the report said. In the top three spots were Singapore, Macau and Hong Kong, it said. South
Taiwan is getting a day off on Christmas for the first time in 25 years. The change comes after opposition parties passed a law earlier this year to add or restore five public holidays, including Constitution Day, which falls on today, Dec. 25. The day marks the 1947 adoption of the constitution of the Republic of China, as the government in Taipei is formally known. Back then the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) governed China from Nanjing. When the KMT, now an opposition party in Taiwan, passed the legislation on holidays, it said that they would help “commemorate the history of national development.” That
RSS