Taiwan’s first-ever report on the implementation of the UN International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) marks a milestone in Taiwan’s human rights development, the National Immigration Agency said yesterday.
The report assesses the government’s compliance with the convention by evaluating legislation, institutions, policies and education efforts, Executive Yuan spokesman Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成) told a news conference at the agency in Taipei.
Lo, who is the convener of the Cabinet’s Human Trafficking Prevention and Racial Discrimination Elimination Coordinating Meeting, said that the report was conducted to ensure the nation is observing the treaty’s standards.
Photo: CNA
It is one of nine major conventions that make up the UN’s core human rights covenants and the sole treaty among them that the Republic of China fully adopted before it left the international body in 1971, Lo said.
As a ratified and promulgated treaty, it has the force of domestic law, which the government is duty-bound to implement, he said.
In 2020, the Cabinet finalized plans to implement the ICERD, tasking the Ministry of the Interior with executing measures and making a report of its progress every three years, he said.
Advancing human rights is as important to the nation as economic development, he said.
Although Taiwan is not a UN member, the nation continually strives to comply with international norms and takes pride in promoting the human rights covenants of its own volition, he said.
The Cabinet conducted its examination of human rights in Taiwan according to the standards the UN would have utilized to evaluate a member state, with adjustments to fit local conditions, he said.
“People are not born in equal circumstances, but the human aspiration for equality is universal,” he said.
The interior ministry consulted multiple government departments and 34 non-governmental organizations in the evaluation process, Deputy Minister of the Interior Chen Tsung-yen (陳宗彥) said.
Taipei’s promulgation of ICERD emphasizes indigenous cultural preservation and justice, revitalization of the language and culture of ethnic minorities, and the promotion of human rights, Immigration Affairs Division head Huang Ling-yu (黃齡玉) said.
The report assesses the effectiveness of the government’s measures to promote equality for ethnic minorities, including indigenous, Hakka, Mongolian and Tibetan peoples, as well as new immigrants and migrant workers, she said.
An evaluation of Taiwan’s compliance with the covenant by international observers is planned for publication in 2024, she said, adding that the government is in the early stages of preparations to determine the makeup of evaluators.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday said it is closely monitoring developments in Venezuela, and would continue to cooperate with democratic allies and work together for regional and global security, stability, and prosperity. The remarks came after the US on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who was later flown to New York along with his wife. The pair face US charges related to drug trafficking and alleged cooperation with gangs designated as terrorist organizations. Maduro has denied the allegations. The ministry said that it is closely monitoring the political and economic situation
UNRELENTING: China attempted cyberattacks on Taiwan’s critical infrastructure 2.63 million times per day last year, up from 1.23 million in 2023, the NSB said China’s cyberarmy has long engaged in cyberattacks against Taiwan’s critical infrastructure, employing diverse and evolving tactics, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday, adding that cyberattacks on critical energy infrastructure last year increased 10-fold compared with the previous year. The NSB yesterday released a report titled Analysis on China’s Cyber Threats to Taiwan’s Critical Infrastructure in 2025, outlining the number of cyberattacks, major tactics and hacker groups. Taiwan’s national intelligence community identified a large number of cybersecurity incidents last year, the bureau said in a statement. China’s cyberarmy last year launched an average of 2.63 million intrusion attempts per day targeting Taiwan’s critical
‘SLICING METHOD’: In the event of a blockade, the China Coast Guard would intercept Taiwanese ships while its navy would seek to deter foreign intervention China’s military drills around Taiwan this week signaled potential strategies to cut the nation off from energy supplies and foreign military assistance, a US think tank report said. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted what it called “Justice Mission 2025” exercises from Monday to Tuesday in five maritime zones and airspace around Taiwan, calling them a warning to “Taiwanese independence” forces. In a report released on Wednesday, the Institute for the Study of War said the exercises effectively simulated blocking shipping routes to major port cities, including Kaohsiung, Keelung and Hualien. Taiwan would be highly vulnerable under such a blockade, because it
Conflict with Taiwan could leave China with “massive economic disruption, catastrophic military losses, significant social unrest, and devastating sanctions,” a US think tank said in a report released on Monday. The German Marshall Fund released a report titled If China Attacks Taiwan: The Consequences for China of “Minor Conflict” and “Major War” Scenarios. The report details the “massive” economic, military, social and international costs to China in the event of a minor conflict or major war with Taiwan, estimating that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could sustain losses of more than half of its active-duty ground forces, including 100,000 troops. Understanding Chinese
RSS