Monday 16 April 2012

In praise of Taiwan


Taiwan, the country that western democracies do not dare to recognize for fear of the wrath of Communist China´s authoritarian rulers, again shines in the biannual Biannual Bertelsmann Foundation Transformation Index:

“Taiwan has remained a high performer in terms of democratic consolidation and market institutionalization,” the foundation said March 30.
Lauding Taiwan as one of Asia’s most vibrant civil societies, the report praised its free and fair elections, sound and reliable civic administration, and respectable human rights performance.
"Taiwan enjoys a very good human rights record according to all relevant international observer groups and there are no reports of unlawful or arbitrary use of state power against the population," the report noted.
Economically, Taiwan steered through the 2008 economic crisis remarkably well “because of resolute and efficient government crisis management and sound cross-strait economic interaction,” according to the report.
Read the entire article here
Taiwan also proves that the autocratic "Asian model", lauded by so many western "experts", is basically flawed: 
The BTI findings also refute the universality of the “Asian model”, according to which autocracies can have overall economic development that is more stable, reliable and robust than in many functioning democratic systems. The index shows this holds only in exceptional cases, such as in China, Singapore and Vietnam, although democracies perform, on average, better in all areas of economic development, social inclusion and political management. 

(Released biannually since 2008, the BTI index measures how developing countries and those in transition steer social change toward democracy and a market-based economy)

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