President Chen Shui-bian (
"Any brutal or violent action to oppress one's own people or to threaten foreign countries cannot be tolerated ... I appeal to you [international community] to see clearly the true nature of China's authoritarian government and understand the implication of its awful human rights record," Chen said.
Chen made the remarks during a speech at a conference on human rights as part of a series of events hosted by Liberal International (LI) to celebrate its 60th anniversary.
Under the theme "Strengthening Networks and Combating Human Trafficking," the sessions of the two-day event focused on human trafficking in Asia and the general aspects of trafficking.
Chen thanked international guests from the world federation of liberal political parties and groups for their longstanding support of Taiwan and expressed the nation's desire to make contributions to the development of freedom, democracy, peace and security.
"Statistics show that today, millions of people are being bought and sold as commodities around the globe, which constitutes nothing less than slave a trade in the 21st century. We must not allow human beings to be denigrated and treated like commodities," Chen said.
International cooperation is necessary to eliminate human trafficking, he said, adding that Taiwan should therefore be allowed to participate in the global network.
LI president Lord John Alderdice said democratic development in China was a very difficult thing as "it's not just a question of holding to principles. It's a question of strategy."
Rather than just focus on economic cooperation, the international community should engage China on human right issues, he said.
"There is a possibly unprecedented opportunity to this. As we come up to the Olympic Games next year, it's possible to use the opportunity to make an important point about human rights in China," he said.
Franklin Drilon, chairman of the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats, said that democratically elected representatives play a crucial role in ending human trafficking -- "a despicable act that trumps our basic human rights."
Tioulong Saumura, an MP in the Sam Rainsy Party in Cambodia, said the various organizations involved in international development should seek to build and advance democracy, the rule of law and accountability within recipient countries.
"Too often international donators who want to help developing countries ... forget the basic values of democracy and human rights. But without those values, no sustainable development is possible," she said.
She also questioned the "principle of non-interference into internal affairs" often adopted by the international community, saying that "the internal affairs of a country, when relating to human rights, are the internal affairs of the whole world."
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