At the invitation of the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) delivered a keynote speech yesterday marking International Human Rights Day in Taipei.
In his speech, Ma expressed the wish that the legislature would speedily approve the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to show the importance Taiwan attaches to human rights.
Kudos to Ma for bringing up the issue, which would suggest that he agrees with Article 1 of both covenants, which states: “All peoples have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.”
Talk is cheap, however, and so are lofty legislative performances if not backed up by concrete action. Even if the legislature does approve the two UN covenants, they could end up as two more pieces of paper gathering dust if not followed by amendments to various laws in the spirit of the covenants.
If not, the Referendum Law (公民投票法) will remain a “birdcage” law that deprives people from exercising direct democracy, and the Assembly and Parade Law (集會遊行法) will remain a terrible piece of legislation that denies the public the right to freely assemble and express their views.
While yesterday marked the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, it was also a day of ironies for the Ma administration, even as Ma trumpeted his message on human rights to the audience.
In his speech, Ma said: “The government has worked incessantly to uphold human rights ... Taiwan has also become the freest country in the world for those wishing to assemble or parade.”
In his inauguration speech, Ma also pledged that: “Taiwan’s democracy should not be marred by illegal eavesdropping, arbitrary justice or political interference in the media or electoral institutions.”
Again, irony struck on International Human Rights Day when the Public Television Service (PTS, 公視) alleged that the government was mulling censorship measures.
The ad ran by PTS yesterday in various newspapers said that the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee and the Internal Administration Committee — both KMT controlled — had passed a resolution demanding that all future programs, productions and budgets receive approval from government agencies such as the Council of Indigenous Peoples, the Council for Hakka Affairs and the Overseas Compatriot Affairs Commission.
In view of these events, coupled with lingering discontent over police brutality against protesters during Chinese envoy Chen Yunlin’s (陳雲林) visit to Taipei last month, maybe the biggest irony of all was Ma being chosen to present this year’s Asia Democracy and Human Rights Award in the first place.
Two weeks ago, Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh (楊紫瓊) raised hackles in Taiwan by posting to her 2.6 million Instagram followers that she was visiting “Taipei, China.” Yeoh’s post continues a long-standing trend of Chinese propaganda that spreads disinformation about Taiwan’s political status and geography, aimed at deceiving the world into supporting its illegitimate claims to Taiwan, which is not and has never been part of China. Taiwan must respond to this blatant act of cognitive warfare. Failure to respond merely cedes ground to China to continue its efforts to conquer Taiwan in the global consciousness to justify an invasion. Taiwan’s government
This month’s news that Taiwan ranks as Asia’s happiest place according to this year’s World Happiness Report deserves both celebration and reflection. Moving up from 31st to 27th globally and surpassing Singapore as Asia’s happiness leader is gratifying, but the true significance lies deeper than these statistics. As a society at the crossroads of Eastern tradition and Western influence, Taiwan embodies a distinctive approach to happiness worth examining more closely. The report highlights Taiwan’s exceptional habit of sharing meals — 10.1 shared meals out of 14 weekly opportunities, ranking eighth globally. This practice is not merely about food, but represents something more
In an article published on this page on Tuesday, Kaohsiung-based journalist Julien Oeuillet wrote that “legions of people worldwide would care if a disaster occurred in South Korea or Japan, but the same people would not bat an eyelid if Taiwan disappeared.” That is quite a statement. We are constantly reading about the importance of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), hailed in Taiwan as the nation’s “silicon shield” protecting it from hostile foreign forces such as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and so crucial to the global supply chain for semiconductors that its loss would cost the global economy US$1
Concerns that the US might abandon Taiwan are often overstated. While US President Donald Trump’s handling of Ukraine raised unease in Taiwan, it is crucial to recognize that Taiwan is not Ukraine. Under Trump, the US views Ukraine largely as a European problem, whereas the Indo-Pacific region remains its primary geopolitical focus. Taipei holds immense strategic value for Washington and is unlikely to be treated as a bargaining chip in US-China relations. Trump’s vision of “making America great again” would be directly undermined by any move to abandon Taiwan. Despite the rhetoric of “America First,” the Trump administration understands the necessity of