The US National Endowment for Democracy (NED) is not planning to change the way it operates, despite Beijing’s sanctions against US non-governmental organizations working in Hong Kong, NED president Carl Gershman told the Taipei Times in an interview in Taipei on Wednesday, adding that it hopes to work more closely with Taiwan to defend democracy.
Gershman on Tuesday received the Order of Brilliant Star with Grand Cordon from President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in recognition of his contribution to the consolidation of Taiwan-US relations, as well as advancing freedom and democracy around the world.
The NED, along with the US National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, the US International Republican Institute, US Human Rights Watch and US Freedom House on Dec. 2 were named by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs as “abominable actors” instigating Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters to commit violent crimes and rebel against Beijing.
Photo: Lin Chia-nan, Taipei Times
The ministry said that it would sanction the US groups.
“We’re not gonna change what we do,” Gershman said when asked if the sanctions would influence the organization’s activities. “We’re not the reason that people in Hong Kong are demanding freedom.”
“They’re demanding freedom because China is trying to take it away from them... Obviously, they’re struggling for their own freedom. That’s something between people in Hong Kong and China. That has nothing to do with us,” he said.
“It’s a false issue,” Gershman said. “They’re [the Chinese government] trying to blame somebody for causing this problem,” when it is the Chinese government that is to blame for its attempt to control Hong Kongers.
Beijing does not support freedom and human dignity, as demonstrated by its concentration camps in Xinjiang and its imposition of secular rule over Tibetans, he said, describing what Beijing has done to the minorities as “cultural genocide.”
Asked if the NED has financed protesters in Hong Kong, Gershman said: “No.”
The NED provides three grants in Hong Kong for preparing periodical reviews for the UN on human rights and the rights of migrant workers, and to encourage dialogue between the government and civil society, as listed on its Web site, Gershman said.
“They’re very specific grants and nothing to do with what is going on today,” he said, adding that China’s accusations are “totally false and without any foundation whatsoever.”
The Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019, signed into law by US President Donald Trump on Nov. 27, is largely a statement manifesting US support for pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong, he said when asked if the US act would be effective in helping to alleviate the territory’s crisis.
Gershman expressed the hope that there could be some temporary settlement of the confrontation in Hong Kong.
Hopefully, the protesters’ immediate objectives, such as ending police violence, could be achieved, he said, while their other goals survive.
China is threatened by Taiwan’s liberal democracy, which has proved to be dynamic, stable and successful at a time when democracy has entered a period of crisis in other parts of the world, he said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in 2012 tasked the Chinese Communist Party with writing a secret communique, Document No. 9, which directs party members to intensify the struggle against the core principles of liberal democracy — constitutional government, universal values, civil society and a free media, Gershman said.
Yet, Taiwan’s experience proves that democratic principles are compatible with Confucian culture and are truly universal, and its success is more significant now that China is rising as a dictatorship, rather than a liberal democracy that it had once intended to become in the late 1990s, he said.
Asked about the possible areas of collaboration between the NED and Taiwan that would help defend democracy, he said Taiwan’s democratic transition in the 1980s and 1990s could be referenced by other nations undergoing a similar transition from an authoritarian to pluralistic system, such as Malaysia, Sudan, Tunisia and Armenia.
Taiwan’s experiences of defending against malign foreign interference, such as how it has responded to the biggest number of cross-border cyberattacks in the world, is also inspiring for other nations, he said, adding that during his stay in Taiwan, he has met with government officials and experts to discuss information security, as well as the usage of social media to enable people to participate more in the global systems that unite democracies.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the
The National Immigration Agency has banned two Chinese from returning to Taiwan, after they published social media content it described as disrespectful to national sovereignty. The agency imposed a two-month ban on a Chinese man surnamed Liang (梁) and a permanent ban on a woman surnamed Yang (楊), an influencer with 23 million followers, in October last year and last week respectively. Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) yesterday said on the sidelines of a legislative meeting that Chinese visitors to Taiwan are required to comply with the rules and regulations governing their entry permits. The government has handled the ban and
RSS