A US-based Taiwanese scholar says Taiwan’s democracy is an asset to Washington’s Asia-Pacific policy.
The scholar is political science professor at the University of Richmond, Vincent Wang. He was speaking in a forum on the future development of democracy in Asia on Wednesday. The forum was organized by New York’s Taipei Economic and Cultural Affairs Office and US-based Freedom House.
An expert on China issues, Freedom House researcher Sarah Cook, said more Asian countries did worse than better in 2014 in terms of levels of freedom. She also pointed out that press freedom around the world has fallen to its lowest level in ten years, and Asia is no exception.
At the forum, Fordham Law School professor Carl Minzner said that countries that are trying to transition to a democratic system should learn from the success story of Taiwan as well as the failed attempt of Russia.