Aristotle stated in Politics, “the basis for a democratic state is liberty.” Liberty is one of the most important attributes of a consolidated democracy, because the more opportunities citizens have to express, associate, discuss and represent a variety of political ideologies, the easier it is for the state to ascertain public preferences and correctly represent them in its policies. If the leadership of a government attempts to limit such freedom, that offers a chilling indication as to the government’s unwillingness to determine and adhere to the will of the people. The consequences of such an approach can be disastrous for the vitality of any democracy.
Public outrage ensued after a notice from the Ministry of Education surfaced requesting that National Taiwan University “reflect and improve the content of its PTT Gossip board.”
Minister of Education Wu Ching-ji (吳清基) vehemently denied that the ministry was attempting to interfere with freedom of speech on the Internet. However, Wu’s refusal to retract the notice in question, after the massive public outcry, reflects the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) administration’s position on stifling the most basic and universally recognized human rights — freedom for individuals to think, believe, speak, publish, inquire, associate and be informed.
The notice to the university and the legal threats an Internet user faced after making a spoof of a campaign video by KMT Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強), who is seeking the top job in the to-be-formed Greater Taichung special municipality, only added to the series of civil rights violations under President Ma Ying-Jeou’s (馬英九) administration.
There has been a clear erosion of the essential components that ultimately sustain a healthy democracy; components such as an individual’s freedom of expression and speech, academic freedom, institutional checks on the power of elected officials, an independent judiciary that is consistent and neutrally applies the rule of law to protect individual and group rights, and a vibrant civil society independent from the state.
A democratic culture is that of accommodation, cooperation and moderation. In a democratic system, conflicts between competing ideologies, ambition for political power and interests will always emerge. Controversies and conflicts in a democracy; however, are resolved in lawful and peaceful manners.
Wu tried to say that the notice was only routine and should not be considered a big deal. However, the language employed in the ministry notice demonstrated otherwise. It contained phrases like “to provide users with a ‘cleaner environment’ and “to investigate and act accordingly.”
If one takes these phrases at face value, they might not bear any special meanings. However, if scrutinized in the context of Taiwan’s authoritarian past, then the meaning is far more worrying. It is well documented that, during the White Terror, the Taiwan Garrison Command and other agencies of the state security apparatus routinely issued warnings with the aforementioned phrases and demanded investigations by other government and civilian agencies into those under suspicion of anti-government activities.
Threats of lawsuit, investigation, warnings and even arrests run completely contradictory to what Ma has promised to uphold — the rights guaranteed by the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
If the KMT administration continues to fail in safeguarding what is crucial to the maintenance of democracy in Taiwan, then the Taiwanese need to select another group of leaders who will, or see their hard-earned democracy suffer an inevitable decline.
Ketty Chen is a professor of political science at Collin College in Plano, Texas.
The gutting of Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA) by US President Donald Trump’s administration poses a serious threat to the global voice of freedom, particularly for those living under authoritarian regimes such as China. The US — hailed as the model of liberal democracy — has the moral responsibility to uphold the values it champions. In undermining these institutions, the US risks diminishing its “soft power,” a pivotal pillar of its global influence. VOA Tibetan and RFA Tibetan played an enormous role in promoting the strong image of the US in and outside Tibet. On VOA Tibetan,
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), the leader of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), caused a national outrage and drew diplomatic condemnation on Tuesday after he arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office dressed in a Nazi uniform. Sung performed a Nazi salute and carried a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf as he arrived to be questioned over allegations of signature forgery in the recall petition. The KMT’s response to the incident has shown a striking lack of contrition and decency. Rather than apologizing and distancing itself from Sung’s actions,
US President Trump weighed into the state of America’s semiconductor manufacturing when he declared, “They [Taiwan] stole it from us. They took it from us, and I don’t blame them. I give them credit.” At a prior White House event President Trump hosted TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家), head of the world’s largest and most advanced chip manufacturer, to announce a commitment to invest US$100 billion in America. The president then shifted his previously critical rhetoric on Taiwan and put off tariffs on its chips. Now we learn that the Trump Administration is conducting a “trade investigation” on semiconductors which
By now, most of Taiwan has heard Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an’s (蔣萬安) threats to initiate a vote of no confidence against the Cabinet. His rationale is that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-led government’s investigation into alleged signature forgery in the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) recall campaign constitutes “political persecution.” I sincerely hope he goes through with it. The opposition currently holds a majority in the Legislative Yuan, so the initiation of a no-confidence motion and its passage should be entirely within reach. If Chiang truly believes that the government is overreaching, abusing its power and targeting political opponents — then
RSS