Taiwan has again been ranked one of the freest countries in the world by human rights organization Freedom House in its latest annual report, earning a perfect score for political rights.
The nation was given 1.5 points on a sliding scale in which 1 was free and 7 indicated the worst possible oppression in the Freedom in the World report released on Wednesday.
The report evaluated the state of freedom in 195 countries and 15 territories.
Taiwan earned a perfect 1 score for political rights and a 2 for civil liberties.
“Notably, the people of Taiwan, through student protests and local election results during the year, strongly voiced their preference for a future in which popular sovereignty prevails,” the report said.
The Washington-based organization is to publish a detailed report on Taiwan and its democracy in the next few months.
Of the 195 countries surveyed, 89, or 46 percent, were judged to be free, while 55 countries, 28 percent, were said to be partly free and 51, 26 percent, were rated not free.
Thirty-eight percent of the 45 countries and territories surveyed in the Asia-Pacific region were rated as free.
China was near the bottom of the ratings with a 6.5 freedom score — 6 for civil liberties and 7 for political rights.
The report said that during the past year, hardline policies on political freedoms and civil liberties continued in China and harassment of previously tolerated civil organizations, labor leaders, academics and churches intensified.
In Hong Kong, the student-led “Umbrella movement” “epitomized” Beijing’s refusal to countenance the basic tenets of democracy and the ultimate weakness of its legitimacy among the public, Freedom House said.
“It also stood as a powerful reminder that while China’s model of state-driven growth combined with strict political control is attractive to elites in authoritarian settings, ordinary people and especially the young find China’s rejection of freedom profoundly unappealing,” the report said.
More aggressive tactics by authoritarian regimes and an upsurge in terrorist attacks contributed to a “disturbing decline” in global freedom during the last year, it said.
It was the ninth consecutive year in which the organization found an overall decline in freedom.
“Acceptance of democracy as the world’s dominant form of government — and of an international system built on democratic ideals — is under greater threat than at any other point in the last 25 years,” said Arch Puddington, vice president for research at the think tank.
Puddington said that until recently, most authoritarian regimes claimed to respect international agreements and paid lip service to the norms of competitive elections and human rights.
However, now they argue for the superiority of what amounts to one-party rule and seek to throw off the constraints of fundamental diplomatic principles, he said.
Nearly twice as many countries suffered declines in this year’s report as registered gains — 61 to 33 — and the number of countries with improvements hit a nine-year low.
A Keelung high school on Saturday night apologized for using a picture containing a Chinese flag on the cover of the senior yearbook, adding that it has recalled the books and pledged to provide students new ones before graduation on Thursday. Of 309 Affiliated Keelung Maritime Senior High School of National Taiwan Ocean University graduates, 248 had purchased the yearbook. Some students said that the printer committed an outrageous error in including the picture, while others said that nobody would notice such a small flag on the cover. Other students said that they cared more about the photographs of classmates and what was
GOING INTERNATIONAL: Rakuten Girls squad leader Ula Shen said she was surprised that baseball fans outside of Taiwan not only knew of them, but also knew their names Major League Baseball’s (MLB) Oakland Athletics on Saturday hosted its first Taiwanese Heritage Day event at the Oakland Coliseum with a performance by Taiwanese cheerleading squad the Rakuten Girls and a video message from Vice President William Lai (賴清德). The Rakuten Girls, who are the cheerleaders for the CPBL’s Rakuten Monkeys, performed in front of a crowd of more than 2,000 people, followed by a prerecorded address by Lai about Taiwan’s baseball culture and democratic spirit. Taiwanese pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸), who was signed by the Athletics earlier this year, was also present. Mizuki Lin (林襄), considered a “baseball cheerleading goddess” by Taiwanese
WAY OF THE RUKAI: ‘Values deemed worthy often exist amid discomfort, so when people go against the flow, nature becomes entwined with our lives,’ a student said “Run, don’t walk” after your dreams, Nvidia cofounder and chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) told National Taiwan University (NTU) graduates yesterday, as several major universities held in-person graduation ceremonies for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic. “What will you create? Whatever it is, run after it. Run, don’t walk. Remember, either you’re running for food, or you are running from becoming food. Oftentimes, you can’t tell which. Either way, run,” he said. Huang was one of several tech executives addressing graduating students at Taiwanese universities. National Chengchi University held two ceremonies, with alumnus Patrick Pan (潘先國), who is head of Taiwan
A 14-legged giant isopod is the highlight of a new dish at a ramen restaurant in Taipei and it has people lining up — both for pictures and for a bite from this bowl of noodles. Since “The Ramen Boy” launched the limited-edition noodle bowl on Monday last week, declaring in a social media post that it had “finally got this dream ingredient,” more than 100 people have joined a waiting list to dine at the restaurant. “It is so attractive because of its appearance — it looks very cute,” said the 37-year-old owner of the restaurant, who wanted to be
RSS