Taiwan Executive Yuan Spokesperson Hsu Kuo-yung said on April 7th that Reporters Without Borders will open its first Asian bureau in Taipei.
As this announcement coincided with the nation’s first Freedom of Speech Day, it is a significant step for Taiwan, Hsu said. The government welcomed the decision, gratified to see the organization affirm Taiwan’s human rights guarantees and freedom of speech.
Hsu lauded Reporters Without Borders, an international nongovernmental organization (NGO) that promotes freedom of the press, for their efforts to protect reporters from persecution, as well as their consultative status at the United Nations, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the Council of Europe. The organization also publishes an annual World Press Freedom Index, and the 2016 edition found Taiwan maintaining its 2015 ranking at No. 51 out of 180 countries worldwide, the highest ranking in Asia.
The right to exercise freedom of speech was a turning point for Taiwan’s democracy, and has become an important core value for the nation’s democratic development, the spokesman continued. Freedom of the press, meanwhile, is the foundation for consolidating democratic reform. Because freedom of speech and the press embody the spirit of Reporters Without Borders, Taiwan’s government welcomes the decision to open its Asian bureau in Taipei.
Taiwan is a completely democratic nation where citizens enjoy the full measure of human rights and free speech. Domestic NGOs are thriving, and the government welcomes all international NGOs to set up bases here, Hsu said. He is confident that Reporters Without Borders will operate successfully in Taiwan’s free and democratic environment, and play a larger role in promoting press freedom in Asia.