The World League for Freedom and Democracy's (WLFD) Taiwan chapter met for its 46th annual convention and celebrated the 48th World Freedom Day yesterday with participants urging China and North Korea to improve their human rights records.
"The Republic of China is now a well-respected country in the global community for its respect for human rights. On the contrary, communist China is severely criticized worldwide for its oppression of human rights," said Yao Eng-chi (
Kwon Jung-dal, president of the Korea Freedom League, cited Amnesty International's annual report as saying that North Korea's human rights situation is "one of the worst in the world."
"The government of North Korea must take this issue seriously and respond to the demands of the international community for openness and improvement," Kwon said.
Kwon also reviewed the history of World Freedom Day.
He said some 14,000 Chinese soldiers who were sent by China to fight in the Korean War defected to Taiwan on Jan. 23, 1954. They referred to Taiwan as "free China," and this is why Jan. 23 was named World Freedom Day, Kwon said.
"World Freedom Day was founded to remember and celebrate noble crusaders for world freedom, and to promote respect for the political and human rights of all peoples around the globe," Kwon said.
General Guillermo A. Pecache, president of the Philippine Council for World Freedom, stressed the importance of consolidating economic fundamentals as a key means to ensure the protection of human rights.
"What is clear is that unless we consolidate freedom and democracy by working on the economic foundations, the resulting anarchy would make human rights meaningless," said Pecache, who is also president of the Manila-based Asian Institute of Strategic Studies.
President Chen Shui-bian (
Minister of Foreign Affairs Eugene Chien (
The WLFD, a descendent of the Asian-Pacific Anti-Communist League established in 1954, has enjoyed longstanding government funding from Taiwan since its inception.
The WLFD, composed of 139 national chapters and affiliated international organizations, is the only NGO strongly associated with Taiwan that is accredited with the UN.
However, until last September, the WLFD was wracked by internal bickering, with two factions claiming to be the rightful leaders of the organization. The two factions were led by Yao and Clement Chang (
The stuggle was resolved after Chien, then the deputy secretary-general to President Chen, worked to mediate between the two factions. Chang agreed to lead the WLFD until the end of this year and then to allow Yao, through related legal procedures, to vie for the WLFD leadership, sources said.
SOLIDARITY: A group of European lawmakers condemned China’s aggressive moves, while the foreign minister of Lithuania said Taiwan ‘cannot become a second Ukraine’ A German parliamentary delegation would visit Taiwan in the first week of October, German lawmaker Holger Becker on Monday told visiting Democratic Progressive Party legislators Fan Yun (范雲) and Lin I-chin (林宜瑾) at the Bundestag in Berlin. Asked by Fan whether he is worried about possible reprisals from Beijing, such as banning him and his family from entering China, Becker said he is more interested in visiting Taiwan, as “now is the time for democracies to stand together.” Fan and Lin also met with German officials to exchange views on digital education and governance. Investing in digital infrastructure and protecting equal rights to
As China waged extensive military exercises off Taiwan, a group of US defense experts in Washington was focused on their own simulation of an eventual — but for now entirely hypothetical — US-China war over the nation. The unofficial what-if game is being conducted on the fifth floor of an office building not far from the White House, and it posits a US military response to a Chinese invasion in 2026. Even though the participants bring a US perspective, they are finding that a US-Taiwan victory, if there is one, could come at a huge cost. “The results are showing that under
‘SIMULATED ATTACKS’: Ten warships each from China and Taiwan were maneuvering at close quarters in the Taiwan Strait, with some Chinese vessels crossing the median line Taiwan yesterday reiterated that it would not succumb to pressure from Beijing after China carried out its most provocative military drills in decades in retaliation for US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan last week. “We will never bow to pressure. We uphold freedom and democracy, and believe Taiwanese disapprove [of] China’s bullying actions with force and saber rattling at our door,” Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said yesterday. China had “arrogantly” disrupted regional peace and stability, he said, calling on Beijing to not flex its military muscles. President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has also called on the international community to “support
DRILLS CONTINUE: China’s creation of a restricted zone across the median line of the Taiwan Strait challenges a 70-year-old fact, a ministry of defense official said The nation’s military fully complies with international rules and guidelines when responding to Chinese military drills, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday, vowing to continue defending Taiwan in accordance with international law. China on Thursday launched four days of military drills around Taiwan proper in response to US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei. The drills were expected to end on Sunday, but neither Beijing nor Taipei confirmed their conclusion, although the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said it had seen some evidence suggesting at least a partial drawdown. However, China yesterday said the drills would continue, saying “the
RSS