Taiwan ranks fourth in the latest Index of Economic Freedom released by the US Heritage Foundation, which foundation president Kevin Roberts delivered personally to President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and Vice President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday while reaffirming Washington’s support for the nation’s security.
This year’s index graded 184 nations based on their economic policies and conditions from July 1, 2022, through June 30 last year, the foundation said.
Economic freedom is assessed based on 12 factors in four broad pillars — rule of law, government size, regulatory efficiency and open markets — each on a scale of 0 to 100.
Photo: CNA
The overall world economy was “mostly unfree,” with the global average score for economic freedom falling to 58.6 from the previous report’s 59.3, the lowest it has been since 2001.
With a score of 80, Taiwan was among only four nations scoring above 80 to be marked as “free” in the index along with Singapore, Switzerland and Ireland.
Taiwan maintained its ranking of fourth in the world and second among 39 Asia-Pacific economies from the previous report, but its score decreased by 0.7 points.
Taiwan is an “exemplary free-market democracy” and has a “strong commitment to the rule of law and openness to global commerce,” the report said.
Small and medium-sized enterprises are the backbone of Taiwan’s economic growth and resilience, it said, adding that “monetary stability has been well maintained despite inflationary pressure.”
Relatively low scores were given to “labor freedom” and “financial freedom,” but the report did not provide negative comments regarding those indicators.
Roberts congratulated Taiwan on the ranking, praising the nation as “one of the shining lights of the world” when he led a delegation to meet with Tsai at the Presidential Office in Taipei yesterday.
He also thanked Tsai for “maintaining the status quo of peace” with courage, and vowed to preserve that peace after she leaves office in May to honor her service.
Tsai is beloved by Taiwanese and the foundation, and would “remain beloved by free people across the world,” he said.
Tsai thanked the foundation for its long-term support for Taiwan-US relations, and its efforts to promote economic, trade and security cooperation between the two sides.
Expanding cooperation with the US, an important security and trade partner of Taiwan, not only serves the interests of both sides, but would also help ensure the security and stability of the global supply chain, she said.
Earlier yesterday, Roberts’ delegation met with Lai to offer its congratulations on him winning the presidential election last month.
Taiwan has friends in the foundation and across the US who understand and support the nation’s freedom and security, Roberts said, adding :“You can count on us.”
Lai solicited the foundation’s continued support for the nation as it is still facing many challenges, including direct threats from China, climate change, global digitization and global supply chain restructuring.
He pledged to continue firmly defending the cross-strait “status quo” and to contribute to peace in the international community.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to