The deputy convener of the Presidential Office’s Human Rights Advisory Committee said it was time to promote people’s “right to good government” — the pursuit of which should be a top priority for this generation.
Chai Song-lin (柴松林), who was speaking on the development of human rights at a monthly meeting at the Presidential Office, said the right to good administration has become increasingly popular in the last decade.
However, people have only recently come to understand that the biggest obstacle to the development of human rights are governments — often those elected by the people themselves, he said.
Substandard administration by governments result in these noble ideals being buried in people’s hearts and remaining unenforced even if they are enshrined in law, said Chai, a prominent human rights activist and co-founder of the Consumers’ Foundation.
Chai praised the European Parliament for taking the initiative in promoting the people’s “right to good administration” when enacting the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU in 2000.
Under that charter, the right to good administration means that the people are entitled to impartial, fair and timely treatment by relevant government agencies whenever they face a problem requiring government action.
However, many of the world’s nderdeveloped countries are plagued by the collapse of constitutional systems, poor-quality legislation, superficial governance and parochialism, all of which run counter to the principle of good administration, Chai said.
Chai said the EU should be commended for regulating the government’s responsibility to govern effectively and called it an example that other countries should follow.
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
EVA Air is prohibiting the use of portable chargers on board all flights starting from Saturday, while China Airlines is advising passengers not to use them, following the lead of South Korean airlines. Current regulations prohibit portable chargers and lithium batteries from check-in luggage and require them to be properly packed in carry-on baggage, EVA Air said. To improve onboard safety, portable chargers and spare lithium batteries would be prohibited from use on all fights starting on Saturday, it said. Passengers are advised to fully charge electronic devices before boarding and use the AC and USB charging outlets at their seat, it said. South
WAR SIMULATION: The developers of the board game ‘2045’ consulted experts and analysts, and made maps based on real-life Chinese People’s Liberation Army exercises To stop invading Chinese forces seizing Taiwan, board gamer Ruth Zhong chooses the nuclear option: Dropping an atomic bomb on Taipei to secure the nation’s freedom and her victory. The Taiwanese board game 2045 is a zero-sum contest of military strategy and individual self-interest that puts players on the front lines of a simulated Chinese attack. Their battlefield game tactics would determine the theoretical future of Taiwan, which in the real world faces the constant threat of a Chinese invasion. “The most interesting part of this game is that you have to make continuous decisions based on the evolving situation,
Actor Lee Wei (李威) was released on bail on Monday after being named as a suspect in the death of a woman whose body was found in the meeting place of a Buddhist group in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) last year, prosecutors said. Lee, 44, was released on NT$300,000 (US$9,148) bail, while his wife, surnamed Chien (簡), was released on NT$150,000 bail after both were summoned to give statements regarding the woman’s death. The home of Lee, who has retreated from the entertainment business in the past few years, was also searched by prosecutors and police earlier on Monday. Lee was questioned three
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