Freedom House, a US government-sponsored non-profit organization advocating for democracy, political freedom and human rights, yesterday announced that it plans to open an office in Taipei.
In a Twitter message, Freedom House said the upcoming Taipei office is expected to become a hub for the organization in the Indo-Pacific region.
“Freedom House looks forward to expanding our presence in Taiwan, which remains one of Asia’s most robust democracies,” it wrote on Twitter.
“The [Taipei] office will enable us to expand and deepen our collaboration with individuals and groups supporting human rights and democracy across the Indo-Pacific region,” it added.
On its Web site, Freedom House, the first US organization to champion the advancement of freedom globally, said it has advocated for “US leadership and collaboration with like-minded governments to vigorously oppose dictators and oppression, and strengthen democracy around the world.”
According to Freedom House’s financial report last year, the US government was its most important financial sponsor, accounting for about 92 percent of its funding.
China in 2019 slapped sanctions on several US pro-democracy and human rights groups, including Freedom House, for their support of protests in Hong Kong against a controversial bill that would have allowed extradition of suspects from Hong Kong to mainland China.
To facilitate democracy, freedom and human rights and assess the degree of democratic freedoms in countries and significant disputed territories around the world, Freedom House publishes an annual Freedom in the World report.
In this year’s edition, published in February, Taiwan scored 94 points, unchanged from last year, retained its status as a “free” country and ranked 17th in the world.
Taiwan scored 38 points out of a maximum 40 for political rights, and 56 out of a maximum of 60 for civil liberties, the report said.
In Asia, Taiwan only trailed Japan, which scored 96 points and placed 11th worldwide.
China was rated a “not free” country, again, and ranked 185th with a score of 9 points, unchanged from last year, after scoring minus-2 points in political rights and 11 in civil liberties.
Freedom House has 12 field offices in eastern Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America.
Beijing could eventually see a full amphibious invasion of Taiwan as the only "prudent" way to bring about unification, the US Department of Defense said in a newly released annual report to Congress. The Pentagon's "Annual Report to Congress: Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China 2025," was in many ways similar to last year’s report but reorganized the analysis of the options China has to take over Taiwan. Generally, according to the report, Chinese leaders view the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) capabilities for a Taiwan campaign as improving, but they remain uncertain about its readiness to successfully seize
Taiwan is getting a day off on Christmas for the first time in 25 years. The change comes after opposition parties passed a law earlier this year to add or restore five public holidays, including Constitution Day, which falls on today, Dec. 25. The day marks the 1947 adoption of the constitution of the Republic of China, as the government in Taipei is formally known. Back then the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) governed China from Nanjing. When the KMT, now an opposition party in Taiwan, passed the legislation on holidays, it said that they would help “commemorate the history of national development.” That
Taiwan has overtaken South Korea this year in per capita income for the first time in 23 years, IMF data showed. Per capita income is a nation’s GDP divided by the total population, used to compare average wealth levels across countries. Taiwan also beat Japan this year on per capita income, after surpassing it for the first time last year, US magazine Newsweek reported yesterday. Across Asia, Taiwan ranked fourth for per capita income at US$37,827 this year due to sustained economic growth, the report said. In the top three spots were Singapore, Macau and Hong Kong, it said. South
Snow fell on Yushan (Jade Mountain, 玉山) yesterday morning as a continental cold air mass sent temperatures below freezing on Taiwan’s tallest peak, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Snowflakes were seen on Yushan’s north peak from 6:28am to 6:38am, but they did not fully cover the ground and no accumulation was recorded, the CWA said. As of 7:42am, the lowest temperature recorded across Taiwan was minus-5.5°C at Yushan’s Fengkou observatory and minus-4.7°C at the Yushan observatory, CWA data showed. On Hehuanshan (合歡山) in Nantou County, a low of 1.3°C was recorded at 6:39pm, when ice pellets fell at Songsyue Lodge (松雪樓), a
RSS