TAIPEI TIMES REPORTS CONFUSING HUMAN RIGHTS SCENE IN TAIWAN
By Kevin Stoda
A little over a week ago, the world recognized the international day of human rights (December 10). The reports the following day in local Taiwanese media concerning progress on human rights were amazingly mixed. On the one hand, the once martial-law dominated land officially opened a Human Rights Commission sponsored by the Office of the president.
Most fascinatingly, the President of Taiwan, Ma Ying-jeou, in his address to mark the Human Rights Day and the creation of the new Human Rights Commision through his office , noted, " "It is governments that do harm to human rights most easily. The governments have authority, and civil servants are the ones who exercise such rights. Power corrupts, and all civil servants should bear those words in mind and prevent the violation of human rights," Ma said as he addressed the commission at the Presidential Office.
I sure wish the United States and China would make such statements about government officials--and consider even going so far as to support Wikileaks efforts to aid whistle-blowing government officials globally.
GOVERNMENTS DO MOST HARM TO HUMAN RIGHTS
This official attack on all governments and civil servants everywhere by the Taiwanese president certainly sounded remarkable to me. (The president grounded his statement by basing it on his own claims to have been victim of a civil servant-led witch hunt and vendetta when he served as the mayor of Taipei some years ago.) On the other hand, both the s president and the Taiwanese government were being protested against both inside and outside the room where his speech was given that December 10, 2010.
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