20101017 Importance of Taiwan in march to democracy

Importance of Taiwan in march to democracy

By Yu Shyi-kun 游錫堃

Freedom, democracy and human rights are universal values. For many years, Taiwan has made great efforts to deepen its democracy, making Taiwan a successful example of an authoritarian system in the East Asian region developing toward democratic politics after World War II, and the only democracy in the Chinese-speaking world.

A look at China, on the other side of the Taiwan Strait, reveals that its authoritarian system remains in place despite its rapid economic growth.

Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo (劉曉波) co-authored Charter 08 and has long pushed for democratic reform in China. As a result, he was sentenced to 11 years in prison for “subversion” in December last year. News about Liu’s winning this year’s Nobel Peace Prize on Oct. 8 has been completely blocked out in China. The silence of the Chinese media shows that there is still a long way to go before the country develops freedom and democracy.

In contrast to the harsh criticism from other countries, President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration has continued to keep a low profile in the face of the Chinese government’s suppression of democracy activists. Instead, Ma expressed his approval and high expectations of Beijing in his call for China to release Liu on Saturday last week. This appeasement is tantamount to tacit approval of China’s authoritarian rule and could damage Taiwan’s international image as a country that attaches great significance to human rights. In future, that could expose this nation to irreversible risk.

German philosopher Immanuel Kant said that only universal democracy and a republican system would bring about perpetual peace. From this perspective, I doubt the so-called “peaceful rise” unilaterally proclaimed by Beijing will bring peace. Hence, China’s democratization is a matter of the utmost importance, and Taiwan has an important role in bringing that about.

I sincerely hope the international community will treat Taiwan as a valuable asset in their attempts to expand democracy. In light of the threats and risks currently facing Taiwan, the world should offer its firmest support.

Apart from urging Beijing to release Liu, the Ma administration should put democracy and human rights issues on its list of topics for cross-strait exchanges and add a special human rights clause to each agreement it signs with Beijing in order to accelerate its democratization.

Meanwhile, the Chinese government should offer a concrete response to international expectations by immediately releasing Liu and allowing him to collect the award in Norway in person. Beijing should also actively move toward freedom and democracy. Only with a democratic China will stable world peace be a real possibility.

Yu Shyi-kun is a former premier.