Latest Human Freedom Index: Taiwan Top in Asia Ranking No. 14 Globally
Taiwan ranked number one in Asia, and fourteenth globally in the latest Human Freedom Index, jointly published by the Cato Institute in the U.S. and Fraser Institute in Canada. The index accounts for over 98% of the world’s population and covers 165 countries and territories. Taiwan was ranked among the world’s most progressive democratic nations, alongside smaller countries in Europe and Oceania. Taiwan Talks takes a deep dive at why Taiwan’s has ranked so high in freedom, despite decades of intensifying intimidation from its authoritarian neighbor, China. We touch on the rapidly deteriorating freedoms in Hong Kong, once ranked third highest in the world, the Chinese controlled territory has now dropped to 34. We also compare Taiwan with its largest security partner, the United States, and how gun violence has brought down personal freedoms there. In this episode, Lai I-chung, Prospect Foundation President and former Taiwan diplomat in the U.S. and Japan, and Yen Chen-shen, National Chengchi University Political Science Professor and Taiwan-U.S.-China relations expert, discuss how Taiwan’s democratization, the country’s respect for diversity, and robust civil society, has propelled it to win Asia’s top spot. We also hear from William Stanton, former U.S. top diplomat to Taiwan as the American Institute in Taiwan Director, on why it is unsurprising Taiwan ranks high in freedom, with its healthy political debates and progress in human rights. Lastly, Christina Hu, Taiwanese American Citizens League Civic Engagement Director, speaks about how Taiwan’s democratic progress is inextricably linked to the growing Taiwanese identity in the U.S., one distinct from a pan-ethnic, pan cultural Chinese identity, and how the right to bear arms comes with responsibility and respect for freedom amid rising gun violence. Topics discussed: - Why Taiwan continues to make progress on human freedoms - Advantages in Taiwan’s democratic system: Personal freedoms that draw it apart from China - Chinese communist crackdown on economic freedom: What is behind the China’s new quest to curb freedoms in the markets, executive arrests, and party cells in private firms? - Japan vs. Taiwan: How no. 14 and no. 16 compare on freedom and what brings both countries together - Taiwan’s democratic progress and the strong link it has with freedom - End of ‘One Country, Two Systems?’ How Chinese Communist Party encroachment on the city’s freedoms have led to its steep dive in the index and the animosity that is causing on the other side of the Taiwan Strait - Boost in Taiwan support: How the U.S. and its Pacific allies are working together to protect freedom in the region by pushing back against China’s aggression - How the growing Taiwanese identity in the U.S. closely follows Taiwan’s democratic progress - How gun violence against a growing Taiwanese identity in the U.S. has made the community even stronger - Balancing freedoms: America’s right to bear arms and the right to physical safety
