Former Thai minister of foreign affairs Kasit Piromya yesterday urged Taiwan to enhance its cooperation with ASEAN nations on civic and political education by sharing its knowledge of democratization.
In his keynote speech yesterday on the first day of a two-day conference on Southeast Asian studies held at the National Chengchi University, Kasit said Taiwan could share with Southeast Asian nations the success of its democratic transformation.
“People in general want and love freedom. That is the starting point for Taiwan to get out into the world,” Kasit said, adding that the nation should work with Southeast Asian nations that have either become democratic or are in a transition and share its experiences and best practices.
Kasit said Taipei should endeavor to convince nations in the region that pluralism and openness are a better way, while demonstrating the importance of inclusivity, dignity and distributive prosperity.
“Taiwan should not be shy to share with others its achievements,” Kasit added.
Asked what advice he would give President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) regarding her “new southbound policy,” Kasit said that Tsai should put an emphasis on civic and political education, as well as enhancing knowledge about democratic practices.
“Since your president is moving south in a more comprehensive manner, you have priorities, whether you put the emphasis on education, culture or people or so on. My point is that Taiwan has been successful as a democratic nation, why not compete with China on this political thing?” Kasit said.
Thailand has encountered difficulties in its long-standing quest for openness and democracy, Kasit said, adding that he hopes Taiwan could join hands with Thailand and help it overcome some of the difficulties.
“Then I think we could become a full-fledged democratic polity,” Kasit said.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
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Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching