The Taiwan Foundation for Democracy was established in 2003 with the primary goal of “establishing a cooperative relationship and aligning with international democratic forces.”
It is mainly funded by a stipend of about NT$1.5 billion (US$47.1 million) set aside by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Taiwan’s foreign affairs have long been pressured by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), having to use international partnerships to establish informal relations with other democratic countries. This was the main duty of the foundation when it was established.
The main purpose of Taiwan consolidating democratic power is to resist and fight back against the suppression and expansion of the CCP’s dictatorship and party-state autocracy, because it is Taiwan’s greatest threat to the development of its democracy and human rights.
The CCP uses ethnonationalism, and cultural identity and resonance in its attempts to erode Taiwan’s faith in democracy and its stalwart protection of human rights.
It makes little sense to use money meant for the foundation to visit China in an official capacity to increase government exchanges and create amity with the CCP, as it would do little to protect Taiwan’s progress in aligning itself with international human rights.
Moreover, it would plunge the nation’s hard-earned money into a cash stream that only helps the CCP to smuggle in spies to bolster its goal of annexing Taiwan.
It would be the same as spending the national treasury on developing an autocracy — a complete waste of taxpayer money.
In line with how the foundation has operated, the legislative speaker serves as its director. It is only to be expected that Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) would rise to the occasion and serve as the foundation’s director.
However, the public has serious doubts regarding his directorship, because Han has long held a pro-China stance. There is the question of whether he would use the foundation’s financial resources to develop deeper exchanges with the CCP.
These doubts and suspicions are not without merit. There is a paper trail. In the past four years, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), to which Han belongs, had made plans to set aside NT$5 million for official trips to China.
As Han is a pro-China KMT member, if he assumes directorship of the foundation, will he ask for more money to bolster exchanges with China?
The legislature needs to be more transparent about how the foundation’s money is used so tax dollars are not used to financially support dictatorships. It should produce annual public budget reports.
Amid the attention on exchanges with China, hopefully the legislature’s majority party, the KMT, would support such reports and help share the goals of protecting human rights and advancing democracy with the CCP.
Chen Chi-nung is a political commentator.
Translated by Tim Smith
From the Iran war and nuclear weapons to tariffs and artificial intelligence, the agenda for this week’s Beijing summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is packed. Xi would almost certainly bring up Taiwan, if only to demonstrate his inflexibility on the matter. However, no one needs to meet with Xi face-to-face to understand his stance. A visit to the National Museum of China in Beijing — in particular, the “Road to Rejuvenation” exhibition, which chronicles the rise and rule of the Chinese Communist Party — might be even more revealing. Xi took the members
Taiwan’s higher education system is facing an existential crisis. As the demographic drop-off continues to empty classrooms, universities across the island are locked in a desperate battle for survival, international student recruitment and crucial Ministry of Education funding. To win this battle, institutions have turned to what seems like an objective measure of quality: global university rankings. Unfortunately, this chase is a costly illusion, and taxpayers are footing the bill. In the past few years, the goalposts have shifted from pure research output to “sustainability” and “societal impact,” largely driven by commercial metrics such as the UK-based Times Higher Education (THE) Impact
The inter-Korean relationship, long defined by national division, offers the clearest mirror within East Asia for cross-strait relations. Yet even there, reunification language is breaking down. The South Korean government disclosed on Wednesday last week that North Korea’s constitutional revision in March had deleted references to reunification and added a territorial clause defining its border with South Korea. South Korea is also seriously debating whether national reunification with North Korea is still necessary. On April 27, South Korean President Lee Jae-myung marked the eighth anniversary of the Panmunjom Declaration, the 2018 inter-Korean agreement in which the two Koreas pledged to
I wrote this before US President Donald Trump embarked on his uneventful state visit to China on Thursday. So, I shall confine my observations to the joint US-Philippine military exercise of April 20 through May 8, known collectively as “Balikatan 2026.” This year’s Balikatan was notable for its “firsts.” First, it was conducted primarily with Taiwan in mind, not the Philippines or even the South China Sea. It also showed that in the Pacific, America’s alliance network is still robust. Allies are enthusiastic about America’s renewed leadership in the region. Nine decades ago, in 1936, America had neither military strength
RSS