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EDITORIAL: Reflecting
on Human Rights Day
Today, we mark Human Rights Day to commemorate the 63rd anniversary of the
proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The UN this year is
using the day to honor the millions of people in North Africa and the Middle
East who have taken to the streets throughout the year to demand their rights
and to honor all defenders of human rights.
As the UN noted, “human rights bind us together as a global community with the
same ideals and values,” something so aptly proven with the Jasmine Revolution
in a region where for decades autocrats had said they were all the protections
their people needed.
Closer to home, Taiwan’s human rights record remains a mixed bag. There has been
a massive improvement since 1987, but there remain concerns about freedom of the
press, as a recent survey for the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy showed.
Respondents to the poll last month gave Taiwan a rating of 3.03 on a scale of 5
(1 being the worst and 5 the best), a marginal improvement over last year.
Respondents ranked the government’s performance in safeguarding media freedom
and independence at just 3.1, down from 3.18 last year and 3.24 in 2009. Of even
greater concern were the scores given to judicial independence (2.34) and
fairness in trials (2.35), demonstrating a clear need for long-awaited judicial
reform efforts.
The Taiwan Brain Trust was even more critical, saying in a report that Taiwan
has moved backward on human rights issues under President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九)
administration, citing the government’s suppression of protesters during a visit
by Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits Chairman Chen Yunlin
(陳雲林) in November 2008.
One commentator on the report said Taiwan’s human rights situation has
backtracked to a level comparable to China’s. That may be a bit harsh, but it
does raise concerns about Ma’s headlong rush to push greater cross-strait ties
and relations. There are many areas where China lags far behind Taiwan and its
legal system is one of them, as many Taiwanese businesspeople have found out to
their dismay.
While the government has for years pushed common languages and cultural
traditions as reasons why this nation can serve as a stepping stone to doing
business in China — and many Taiwanese have jumped at that chance — they have
all ignored that lack of legal protections in China they take for granted at
home, such as a system that pays more than lip service to the rule of law.
Chang Chiu-lin (張九麟) found out the hard way what happens when a Taiwanese
businessperson gets caught up in the Kafkaesque nightmare that is China’s legal
system when he ran afoul of a Chinese associate in 2009 and told his story this
week about his seven months in an Anhui prison on a fraud conviction.
Australian businessman Matthew Ng (吳植輝) was jailed on Tuesday for 13 years on
bribery and embezzlement charges because his company allegedly ran up against
one owned by the Guangzhou City Government. His family and lawyer weren’t
informed ahead of time that a verdict would be handed down this week — perfectly
legal under China’s opaque system.
The harshness of China’s authoritarian system was also spotlighted this week
with the brief release on the Internet of leaked footage of a security operation
in Tibet. A 100-person paramilitary squad, with dogs and an armored personnel
carrier, raided a village overnight and arrested several people in 2008,
apparently for the main crime of being Tibetan. The overwhelming force used
against sleeping Tibetans seemed far out of proportion to any “security threat”
their Chinese overlords might claim they represent.
So on this Human Rights Day, we should give thanks to all those brave souls who
have sacrificed their lives and their freedom over the past decades — and this
year — in the pursuit of democracy and human rights for all. And we should give
extra thanks that we don’t live under Chinese rule.
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