The US Department of State released its 2020 Human Rights Report on Tuesday evening (US time). The report evaluates human rights practices in United Nations member states and countries that receive assistance from the US.
This year, the report identified Taiwan as “a democracy led by a president and parliament selected in multiparty elections.” However, it did point out that Taiwan has human rights issues such as “the existence of criminal libel laws and serious acts of corruption.”
On Tuesday, Taiwan’s foreign ministry said the US State Department’s report vindicated the island’s human rights practices. It said that Taiwan is a country with laws to prevent human rights abuses.
The foreign ministry said the government guarantees personal freedom and freedom of speech. The ministry said the US goes beyond praising Taiwan’s democracy in the Human Rights Report, by trusting Taiwan to proliferate shared values in the Asia-Pacific region under the Indo-Pacific Democratic Governance Consultation platform.