Worse still, it has been reported that " [i]n June 2009, the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 in Beijing, a leader of the Chinese democracy movement and the then student leader Wang Dan " had "visited Taiwan as in previous years to meet up with Ma about human rights and democracy in China. However, Ma postponed the appointment three times and eventually cancelled the appointment with Wang. In a press meeting with DPP Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen, Wang Dan spoke of how it has become more difficult to see "President Ma' in comparison to "Mayor Ma of Taipei City.'"
MEANWHILE, ONE YEAR AFTER ".
The group condemning the lack of progress in modern Taiwan is called Covenants Watch. " In a report released to coincide with Human Rights Day . . . ., the non-profit Covenants Watch, an umbrella organization created to monitor human rights in Taiwan, said government efforts to implement the covenants were under-funded and disorganized."
"In the 80-page report signed by 42 groups, Covenants Watch said public servants had not been properly educated on the covenants and said that progress to implement the required changes in government agencies were well behind schedule. "There wasn't enough preparation, the implementation has been a mess and progress has fallen behind,' said Judicial Reform Foundation director Lin Feng-jeng one of the signatories."
In addition, "In the report, Covenant Watch recommended that the government set up a special task force to ensure that various agencies comply with the covenants. Additional funding should be given to universities for international human rights research. "
In short, although on paper, Taiwan has improved its human rights standards by joining the rest of the United Nations' signatories over the past two years. However, due to lack of time and due to very inadequate funding things may have continued to get worse in Taiwan since 2009. The most example of this was the recent resumption of capital punishment.
The "Taiwan Association for Human Rights chairman Lin Chia-fan, another signatory of the report, said Taiwan's insistence on carrying out the death penalty, despite a four-year hiatus, violated the spirit of a core provision of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights." After we ratified the two covenants, we were supposed to work toward abolishing the death penalty. Instead, our country has resumed the practice," Lin said.
INTERESTINGLY, CRITICIZING MAINLAND IS WELL-PRACTICED
Despite attempts by the current government of Taiwan to tone down rhetoric with the mainland, i.e. rhetoric which could harm the détente between the two Chinas, the local Taiwanese press feels free to criticize China on human rights both directly and indirectly.
The other headline was the well-publicized report of the empty chair for the 2010 Nobel Peace Laureate Liu Xiaobo in Scandinacia at the Nobel prize Ceremonies on December 10, 2010.
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