Taiwan remained top in Asia and 10th globally among the 167 countries and territories ranked in the Democracy Index 2023, which was released on Thursday by the London-based Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).
However, Taiwan’s score of 8.92 out of 10 was slightly lower than the 8.99 it was awarded in 2022, the EIU’s Democracy Index 2023: Age of Conflict report showed.
In Asia, Taiwan led regional partners South Korea and Japan, ranked 16th and 22nd respectively, the report said.
Photo: CNA
In 2021, the EIU ranked Taiwan as the eighth-strongest democracy in the world and the strongest in Asia with a score of 8.99.
Norway retained its position as the most democratic country in Thursday’s report, a spot it has held for 14 years, followed by New Zealand and Iceland.
The other countries in the top 10 are Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Ireland, Switzerland and the Netherlands, while China and Uzbekistan were tied for 148th.
The EIU is an economics consultancy associated with The Economist magazine that provides forecasting and advisory services.
The Economist on Wednesday said in a report on the rankings that “this year should be a triumphant one for democracy.”
“More people are expected to vote in national elections in 2024 than ever before, but many elections will be problematic,” it said.
This year’s index showed that “only 43 of the more than 70 elections are expected to be fully free and fair,” it added.
The index ranks countries and territories based on 60 indicators in five categories: electoral process and pluralism, functioning of government, political participation, political culture and civil liberties.
Based on the indicators, each area is given an overall score from zero to 10, and is classified as either a “full democracy,” “flawed democracy,” “hybrid regime” or “authoritarian regime.”
Last year was “an inauspicious year for democracy” with the average global index score falling to its lowest level of 5.23 since the index began in 2006, the EIU reports said.
In 2022, the score was 5.29, it said.
“The increasing incidence of violent conflict has badly dented the global democracy score and prevented a recovery after the pandemic years of 2020-[20]22,” it said.
Less than 8 percent of the world’s population live in a full democracy, while up to 39.4 percent live under authoritarian rule, up from 36.9 percent in the 2022 report, the EIU said.
Western Europe was the only climber in Thursday’s index, with 15 out of 24 “full democracies” globally in the region, it said.
Canada was the only “full democracy” in North America, with the US classified as a “flawed democracy” since 2016, it said.
In Asia and Australasia, Taiwan, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea are listed as “full democracies,” it said.
Asia’s overall score dropped from 5.46 in 2022 to 5.41 last year, the lowest since 2006, the EIU report said.
The military has spotted two Chinese warships operating in waters near Penghu County in the Taiwan Strait and sent its own naval and air forces to monitor the vessels, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. Beijing sends warships and warplanes into the waters and skies around Taiwan on an almost daily basis, drawing condemnation from Taipei. While the ministry offers daily updates on the locations of Chinese military aircraft, it only rarely gives details of where Chinese warships are operating, generally only when it detects aircraft carriers, as happened last week. A Chinese destroyer and a frigate entered waters to the southwest
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comment last year on Tokyo’s potential reaction to a Taiwan-China conflict has forced Beijing to rewrite its invasion plans, a retired Japanese general said. Takaichi told the Diet on Nov. 7 last year that a Chinese naval blockade or military attack on Taiwan could constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan, potentially allowing Tokyo to exercise its right to collective self-defense. Former Japan Ground Self-Defense Force general Kiyofumi Ogawa said in a recent speech that the remark has been interpreted as meaning Japan could intervene in the early stages of a Taiwan Strait conflict, undermining China’s previous assumptions
Taiwan Railways Corp (TRC) today announced that Shin Kong Mitsukoshi has been selected as the preferred bidder to operate the Taipei Railway Station shopping mall, replacing the current operator, Breeze Development Co Ltd. Among eight qualified firms that delivered presentations and were evaluated by a review committee, Shin Kong Mitsukoshi was ranked first, while Breeze was named the runner-up, the rail company said in a statement. Contract negotiations are to proceed in accordance with regulations, it said, adding that if negotiations with the top bidder fail, it could invite the second-ranked applicant to enter talks. Breeze in a statement today expressed doubts over
RSS