President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said on World Freedom Day yesterday that his administration hopes that dialogue between Taiwan and China can extend beyond economic and trade issues, to encompass human rights and the rule of law.
Taiwan’s ultimate goal is to maintain peace in East Asia and allow people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait to pursue the values of freedom and democracy, Ma said at a ceremony in Taipei marking 2013 World Freedom Day.
Ma said that since he took office in 2008, dialogue between Taiwan and China has focused on trade and cultural issues, but he expressed hope that the issues of freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law could be taken up in the near future.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
“Although democracy is an imported system, we have fully proved over the past 60 years that this foreign system can actually be cultivated in the soil of Chinese culture,” he said, adding that the Republic of China (ROC) has become a fully democratic country.
A sign of that, Ma said, is that Taiwan was again rated a free country in an annual report compiled by Freedom House, a Washington-based human rights advocacy group. Retaining its previous year’s rankings, Taiwan received a rating of “one” for political rights and a “two” for civil liberties, the group said in a press statement last week.
In the rankings, one represents the highest level of freedom and seven the least degree of freedom.
Ma also stressed that as a member of the international community, the ROC is determined to be a peacemaker, a provider of humanitarian aid, a promoter of cultural ties, a creator of new technologies and business opportunities, and a standard-bearer at the leading edge of Chinese culture.
“Without peace, freedom and democracy can hardly be achieved,” Ma said, adding that Taiwan and China have signed 18 agreements over the past five years, an indication of warming ties.
“I am not saying I’m happy with the ‘status quo,’ but at least both sides of the Taiwan Strait have found a peaceful solution to conflicts,” Ma said.
More than 400 guests from about 60 countries and territories attended the World Freedom Day celebrations, as well as the annual general conference of the World League for Freedom and Democracy and the Asian Pacific League for Freedom and Democracy.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
An exhibition celebrating Taiwan and Japan’s comic culture opened on Saturday in Taichung, featuring a section that explores Taiwanese reproductions of Japanese comics from when martial law limited Japanese representation. “A Century of Manga Culture: An Encounter of Taiwan and Japan’s Youth” held its Taiwan opening ceremony at Taichung’s National Taiwan Museum of Comics after an initial one-month run in Japan’s Kyoto International Manga Museum between May 24 and June 24. Much like the Kyoto exhibition, the show mainly celebrates the comic connection between Taiwan and Japan through late Taiwanese comic book
RSS