President William Lai (賴清德) last week attended a dinner in Taipei with representatives from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). During the event, he expressed “relief” about the release of Israeli hostages and said that Taiwan had “provided assistance to the Israeli people through humanitarian aid and medical supplies.”
While such remarks might reflect Taiwan’s concern for humanitarian issues, they highlight a glaring omission: the ongoing catastrophe in Gaza. Palestinian civilians, particularly women and children, have been under relentless bombardment and severe obstruction of humanitarian relief. This silence exposes a troubling double standard in Taiwan’s human rights discourse — one that threatens to undermine its international credibility.
Over the past two years, Gaza has faced one of the most devastating humanitarian crises in modern history.
UN data showed that more than 37,000 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 2 million have been displaced. Amnesty International and several governments have condemned Israel for serious contraventions of international humanitarian law. South Africa has gone a step further, filing a case with the International Court of Justice, accusing Israel of genocide.
Taiwan’s government has remained silent, continuing to deepen diplomatic and economic ties with Israel. This raises an uncomfortable question: Can Taiwan still claim to uphold universal human rights while turning a blind eye to suffering in Gaza?
Amnesty International said that Israel’s actions in Gaza are crimes against humanity, including the deliberate killing of civilians, forced displacement, collective punishment and the obstruction of humanitarian aid.
The organization urged governments to support the International Criminal Court in investigating and holding Israel accountable. Refusing to do so would only perpetuate Israel’s sense of impunity and weaken the global human rights framework.
If the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Presidential Office continue to highlight the “good news” of hostage releases while ignoring the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, this reveals not only a moral blind spot, but also a strategic misjudgment. Taiwan’s strength in global diplomacy lies in its moral standing — its ability to present itself as a democracy committed to universal values. If it applies those values selectively, it risks losing the moral high ground that has long distinguished it from authoritarian regimes.
At a time when the international community is calling for a ceasefire and increased humanitarian access, Taiwan’s one-sided sympathy for Israel risks portraying it as inconsistent on human rights. Such a stance could alienate potential allies in the Global South and civil society organizations that have historically supported Taiwan’s democratic aspirations.
Taiwan has much to gain by adopting a principled, balanced position — one that acknowledges the security concerns of all parties while reaffirming the universal rights of people. Calling for an immediate ceasefire, urging respect for international humanitarian law and offering aid to Palestinians in Gaza would not only demonstrate moral courage, but also improve Taiwan’s reputation as a responsible and compassionate democracy.
Taiwan’s history gives it a unique moral perspective. Having struggled for decades to secure democracy and human rights, Taiwan understands the value of global solidarity. Just as Taiwan hopes the world would stand with it in times of crisis, it, too, should stand with others when their fundamental rights are under assault.
Human rights cannot be selective, nor should moral conviction be silenced by diplomatic convenience. If Taiwan truly aspires to be a nation founded on human rights values, it must have the courage to speak out for justice — even when doing so is politically inconvenient.
Silence in the face of suffering is not neutrality; it is complicity. Taiwan must choose to be on the side of humanity. Only by doing so could it earn the respect, trust and solidarity of the international community it so rightly seeks.
Chiu E-ling is the executive director of Amnesty International Taiwan. Echo Lin is the chair of Amnesty International Taiwan.
The White House’s decision to take a 9.9 percent stake in Intel Corp is looking like very shrewd business indeed. Since the government bought in at US$20.47 a share last August, the US chipmaker’s surging stock price has delivered the US a US$43 billion return. One of the reasons the investment has so far proved so sound is that the White House has made sure of it. According to The Wall Street Journal, Howard personally pushed deals on Intel’s behalf with some of the most lucrative clients imaginable. They include Nvidia Corp, the company at the heart of the AI
A single photograph can cut through a lot of noise, but it can also be used to misrepresent the truth. At the very least, it can concentrate the mind on something that requires further investigation. On Monday last week, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation CEO Tai Hsia-ling (戴遐齡) and former National Security Council secretary-general King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) held a news conference in which they showed a photograph of former foundation CEO Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑), now Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) deputy chairman. In the image Hsiao is seated next to Xiamen Taiwan Businessmen Association chairman Han Ying-huan (韓螢煥). The two men were holding
I first met Professor Ray Jiing (井迎瑞) as a film and documentary student at Shih Hsin University’s (SHU) Department of Radio Television and Film in 1988. The following year, he went on to become the director of the Chinese Taipei Film Archive — forerunner of the Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute (TFAI). Over his eight-year tenure, Jiing rescued and restored over 200 classic Taiwanese films. In 1997, he established the Graduate Institute of Studies in Documentary and Film Archiving at Tainan National University of the Arts (TNNUA), and I joined the program in his third cohort of students. Beyond a
A recent report concerning a student who is suing his teacher posed the question in its headline: Does failing a student in two subjects constitute bullying? The college student in Chiayi County apparently sought NT$2 million (US$63,603) in state compensation, but a court dismissed the case. The first reaction of many might have been to ask: What has happened to students nowadays? Some say that teachers have lost their authority, while others say students are overindulged. Some even start reminiscing over the days when “whatever the teacher says goes.” However, the real issue might be overlooked if emotional reactions like that are the
RSS