A day after a Taiwanese delegation was requested to leave a conference in Belgium due to Chinese pressure, a group of legislators met with foreign envoys in Taipei and vowed to continue the nation’s efforts to protect human rights and by doing so help Taiwan engage in “human rights diplomacy.”
The Parliamentary Cross-Party Group on International Human Rights was established in 2012, and with a new legislature in place, the group has been reconfigured, relaunching its operations on Tuesday. Foreign envoys said they welcomed the endeavor and called for continued cooperation on human rights issues such as gender equality, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights, judicial reforms and the abolition of the death penalty.
It is an example of how the nation’s soft power, even on an official level, which is often restricted outside national borders, could contribute to improving ties with nations that do not have formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
The current administration should be applauded for the ratification of various international conventions such as the UN’s International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. However, ratification is only the first step, or a sign that the nation is willing to make more commitments to the cause, including educating and familiarizing the public with the universal values that the government, representing the nation, has agreed to endorse — by possibly making courageous moves.
There have been calls after the murder of a four-year-old girl for the immediate execution of the alleged killer, who some members of the public deem — based on information in media reports — bestial and incorrigible. Some netizens have also expressed approval that Taiwanese suspects in a telecom fraud case were forcibly deported from Kenya to China — known for pitiless punishment and unquestionable authority and, of course, unjust trials, which Taiwanese conveniently forget — for they believe the alleged fraudsters would get off easily if tried in Taiwan.
In both incidences, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and Minister of Justice Luo Ying-shay (羅瑩雪) have failed to lead public opinion in a way that reflects the spirit of the treaties the government has ratified: Worse, they have acted in direct opposition to the ideas therein.
The most vocal proponent of the human rights advocates in the legislatures has been Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Yu Mei-nu (尤美女). She and a few other DPP lawmakers have also expressed support for a proposed same-sex partnership act.
It is not surprising that the KMT is less of an active partner in these campaigns. However, will DPP lawmakers become mute following the May 20 handover of power — knowing that they now have only themselves to blame if they fail to realize their promises?
It is well understood that Taiwan faces huge problems when it comes to foreign relations — and this situation is unlikely to change any time soon. When the nation is less vociferous in its insistence on sovereignty, the world soon lapses into an unthinking endorsement of Beijing’s “one China” policy; when it is more assertive about its independence and identity, its strongest ally scowls and calls it a “troublemaker.”
The pressure from Beijing will surely intensify after president-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) takes office — or it already has — as its reduction of Chinese tourists to Taiwan, push for forced deportations from third nations, and meddling in international conferences could indicate.
Soft power diplomacy is not limited to popular culture or entertainment, and the new government should know better than its predecessor that human rights issues are not only inherently valuable, they are the key to distinguishing Taiwan from China and could provide a powerful boost to this nation’s calls for international attention and support.
US aerospace company Boeing Co has in recent years been involved in numerous safety incidents, including crashes of its 737 Max airliners, which have caused widespread concern about the company’s safety record. It has recently come to light that titanium jet engine parts used by Boeing and its European competitor Airbus SE were sold with falsified documentation. The source of the titanium used in these parts has been traced back to an unknown Chinese company. It is clear that China is trying to sneak questionable titanium materials into the supply chain and use any ensuing problems as an opportunity to
It’s not every month that the US Department of State sends two deputy assistant secretary-level officials to Taiwan, together. Its rarer still that such senior State Department policy officers, once on the ground in Taipei, make a point of huddling with fellow diplomats from “like-minded” NATO, ANZUS and Japanese governments to coordinate their multilateral Taiwan policies. The State Department issued a press release on June 22 admitting that the two American “representatives” had “hosted consultations in Taipei” with their counterparts from the “Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs.” The consultations were blandly dubbed the “US-Taiwan Working Group on International Organizations.” The State
The Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercises, the largest naval exercise in the region, are aimed at deepening international collaboration and interaction while strengthening tactical capabilities and flexibility in tackling maritime crises. China was invited to participate in RIMPAC in 2014 and 2016, but it was excluded this year. The underlying reason is that Beijing’s ambitions of regional expansion and challenging the international order have raised global concern. The world has made clear its suspicions of China, and its exclusion from RIMPAC this year will bring about a sea change in years to come. The purpose of excluding China is primarily
The Chinese Supreme People’s Court and other government agencies released new legal guidelines criminalizing “Taiwan independence diehard separatists.” While mostly symbolic — the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has never had jurisdiction over Taiwan — Tamkang University Graduate Institute of China Studies associate professor Chang Wu-ueh (張五岳), an expert on cross-strait relations, said: “They aim to explain domestically how they are countering ‘Taiwan independence,’ they aim to declare internationally their claimed jurisdiction over Taiwan and they aim to deter Taiwanese.” Analysts do not know for sure why Beijing is propagating these guidelines now. Under Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), deciphering the