Last month’s EU report on human rights and democracy leaves the impression that capital punishment is the only challenge in Taiwan’s human rights situation and recent democratic development. If the EU takes a reality check, it will find that democratic development has deteriorated even more, as, for instance, Freedom House’s latest press freedom report has documented.
The EU report should not be read as indirect support of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) or the government. For EU countries, it is not important who is in power because the eurozone increasingly considers Taiwan as a market by itself, with high consumer spending and various investment opportunities, including green technology. Trade and the historic level of EU investments in Taiwan will continue and might even increase in prosperity after next year’s presidential elections with a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government and new political parties in play.
The reason for the omission of additional EU criticism of the nation seems to be that too many human rights and too much democracy disturbs trade and makes meetings with Taiwan more complicated.
It is complicated for the EU to talk about the 18 Europeans who, according to data obtained by Taiwan Corner, were banned from entering Taiwan last year.
Instead, the EU denied knowledge of the cases — which is not true — and has apparently not reacted to the information. The reluctance to engage itself comes after an unjust ban of a young German, which revealed a breach of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Taiwan signed in 2009. The German man has had all the charges dropped.
The Freedom House report showed that journalists feel pressure to self-censor and media companies are wary about upsetting China. The delay of the proposed law against media monopolization and mere discussion of designated areas for the press during demonstrations show a worrying development. The case and the treatment of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) is another obvious case that shows challenges with the nation’s legal system.
However, pressure on EU institutions is growing from an increasing number of European politicians, who have a strong focus on human rights, and tend to be less restricted by trade and investment policies.
Moreover, there is a change among European politicians to look more broadly at Taiwan’s political situation and engage with societies independently of who is in government. This is good news, as the EU will become even more important to Taiwan if the EU and the US enter the proposed Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.
The EU is rightly vocal in criticizing Taiwan over capital punishment and for ending the moratorium on executions that lasted from 2005 to 2010. It is encouraging that the EU has partnered with the Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty.
Democracy and human rights are the foundation of peaceful and sustainable development, and the EU can be stronger in promoting these universal values among a friend like Taiwan.
Michael Danielsen is the chairman of Taiwan Corner.
The Executive Yuan recently revised a page of its Web site on ethnic groups in Taiwan, replacing the term “Han” (漢族) with “the rest of the population.” The page, which was updated on March 24, describes the composition of Taiwan’s registered households as indigenous (2.5 percent), foreign origin (1.2 percent) and the rest of the population (96.2 percent). The change was picked up by a social media user and amplified by local media, sparking heated discussion over the weekend. The pan-blue and pro-China camp called it a politically motivated desinicization attempt to obscure the Han Chinese ethnicity of most Taiwanese.
On Wednesday last week, the Rossiyskaya Gazeta published an article by Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) asserting the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) territorial claim over Taiwan effective 1945, predicated upon instruments such as the 1943 Cairo Declaration and the 1945 Potsdam Proclamation. The article further contended that this de jure and de facto status was subsequently reaffirmed by UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 of 1971. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs promptly issued a statement categorically repudiating these assertions. In addition to the reasons put forward by the ministry, I believe that China’s assertions are open to questions in international
The Legislative Yuan passed an amendment on Friday last week to add four national holidays and make Workers’ Day a national holiday for all sectors — a move referred to as “four plus one.” The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), who used their combined legislative majority to push the bill through its third reading, claim the holidays were chosen based on their inherent significance and social relevance. However, in passing the amendment, they have stuck to the traditional mindset of taking a holiday just for the sake of it, failing to make good use of
As strategic tensions escalate across the vast Indo-Pacific region, Taiwan has emerged as more than a potential flashpoint. It is the fulcrum upon which the credibility of the evolving American-led strategy of integrated deterrence now rests. How the US and regional powers like Japan respond to Taiwan’s defense, and how credible the deterrent against Chinese aggression proves to be, will profoundly shape the Indo-Pacific security architecture for years to come. A successful defense of Taiwan through strengthened deterrence in the Indo-Pacific would enhance the credibility of the US-led alliance system and underpin America’s global preeminence, while a failure of integrated deterrence would
RSS