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NORTHEAST ASIA

Bringing Taiwan into the fold
After yet another U.N. General Assembly where Taiwan has virtually gone unmentioned, the island country’s economic and cultural ministry called on the U.N. to allow the young nation to participate in its meetings and mechanisms, and for its individuals and journalists to cover and attend relevant meetings.
In a statement, Jin-Ling Chen, director general of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Toronto, said Taiwan’s U.N. engagement “would signify the international community’s unwavering commitment to upholding these principles and holding autocratic regimes accountable.”
“It would exemplify the U.N.’s dedication to inclusivity, ensuring that all nations, regardless of political status, have a platform for peaceful dialogue and co-operation,” Chen said.
This after the U.N. General Assembly in New York from Sept. 18 to 19, that took place amid worsening tensions between Taiwan and China, which has moved more aggressively in its efforts to unify the island-nation with the mainland.
During the assembly, only six countries expressed vocal support for Taiwan and its contributions to the world: Guatemala, Paraguay, Palau, Marshall Islands, Eswatini, and Nauru.
Specifically, Nauru president Russ Kun thanked Taipei for setting a good example in its handling of COVID-19 and for supporting his country’s health care system during the pandemic. He appealed for “wider recognition of Taiwan” and to allow the country to participate in the U.N. systems and the implementation of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
Even the U.N.’s deputy chief Amina Mohammed acknowledged that Taiwan’s exclusion from international forums, such as the SDG summit in New York on Sept. 18-19, “holds back the [SDG] goals… We said leave no one behind and I think member states have to find a way to make sure that we are not in that position where we’re excluding people.”
With few major countries daring to speak up against China, Jonas Parello Plesner, executive director of the Alliance of Democracies Foundation, challenged “the United States and its allies to stand up to Beijing, and advocating for Taiwan’s participation in international forums like the U.N. is a great place to start.”
Beijing has refused to acknowledge Taiwan’s claim to independence, and has used its powers to isolate the nation. Among others, it has used its position as a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council to bar the Taiwanese government and the U.N.’s agencies from making contact.
China is also using the U.N. General Assembly’s Resolution No. 2758, which states that Taiwan is part of the People’s Republic of China and thus grants China the right to represent the nation before the U.N.
Not only has this lobbying left 23 million Taiwanese citizens without a voice in the U.N., but it also raises questions about the U.N.’s commitment to peaceful conflict resolution and human rights.
“The subsequent misrepresentation of Resolution 2758 contradicts the basic principles upheld by the U.N. Charter and must be rectified,” Chen said. “Permitting Taiwan’s U.N. engagement would signify the international community’s unwavering commitment to upholding these principles and holding autocratic regimes accountable.”
SOUTH ASIA

Fighting for safe online spaces
Meanwhile, a Geneva-based legal rights group and several major tech firms called on Sri Lanka to either withdraw or amend a proposed “online safety bill” that, if passed in its current form, would “crush free expression” and further diminish the already shrunken civic space in the country.
On Sept. 29, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) and the Asia Internet Coalition, which represents leading internet and technology companies like eBay, Amazon, Meta, Google and X, pointed out several “problematic aspects” of the new bill that intends to regulate the content of online communication, including by the general public.
Of particular concern for the ICJ are provisions that grant wide-ranging and overly broad powers to the proposed Online Safety Commission, the appointment of whose members will be the sole discretion of the president.
The draft law’s repeated references to “religion” in provisions related to punishable offenses are also a major concern amid the rise of communal violence in the island country.
Jeff Paine, managing director of AIC, raised concerns about the lack of stakeholder consultations during the drafting of the bill, and urged the government to engage their sector so that the regulation can be “proportionate, reasonable and aligned with international practices.”
“While the spread of online hate-speech and disinformation needs to be tackled, this bill is deeply flawed in its design and would be open to abuse by the Sri Lankan government, which has persistently failed to uphold freedom of expression,” said Ian Seiderman, ICJ’s legal and policy director. “It risks being used to suppress important public debate regarding the conduct of the government and matters of public policy,” he added.
The bill is seen as yet another draconian measure intended to stifle dissent and restrict freedom of expression in Sri Lanka, rated “partly free” in Freedom House’s 2023 Freedom on the Net index.
The same report noted that under former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s leadership, the government frequently blocked social media and communication platforms to hinder protesters; and sought emergency regulations purportedly to target false information but which in reality were used to curb dissent.
SOUTHEAST ASIA

Keep hands off environmentalists
As Vietnam continues its crackdown on its environmental activists, international rights groups as well as the U.S. State Department called on the communist state to change course and drop all charges against all environmental defenders, and instead work with them to achieve its climate goals.
This, after Hoang Thi Minh Hong, founder of the now-defunct environmental campaign group CHANGE, was convicted of tax fraud after a one-day trial in a Ho Chi Minh court on Sept. 28.
The court found her guilty of evading US$275,000 in taxes related to CHANGE, and sentenced her to three years in prison. She is the fifth environmental defender to be arrested and accused of tax violations in the past two years, according to Amnesty International.
Hoang’s case is yet another illustration of Vietnam’s ongoing crackdown against environmentalists, whose grievances over the environment are often interpreted as criticisms of the government. As of Oct. 6, independent rights think tank The 88 Project documented at least 178 activists in prison, many of whom are affiliated with green work.
“Having imprisoned the country’s human rights defenders and democracy activists, the Vietnamese government is now targeting those working for a cleaner, more sustainable environment,” said Human Rights Watch deputy Asia director Phil Robertson. “International donors need to be clear with Vietnam’s leaders that the Just Energy Transition Partnership cannot move forward so long as environmental activists are under attack.”
“If Vietnam is serious about tackling climate change, it must release all environmental activists, campaigners and experts from jail now,” echoed Ming Yu Hah, Amnesty International’s regional campaigns director. “The international community must condemn this verdict and urge Vietnam to drop all criminal charges against environmental activists.”
Hoang’s arrest also comes barely two weeks after U.S. President Joseph Biden visited Vietnam to forge a “comprehensive strategic partnership” that included the “promotion and protection of human rights.”
In a statement dated Sept. 29, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said the United States was “deeply concerned” by the jailing of Hoang Thi Minh and other environmental activists and called on Vietnam to “release all those unjustly detained” and to “respect the right to freedoms of expression and association.”
“NGO leaders like Hoang Thi Minh Hong play a vital role in tackling global challenges, proposing sustainable solutions in the global fight against the climate crisis, and combating wildlife and timber trafficking,” Miller said.
GLOBAL/REGIONAL

Parliamentarians’ earnest plea to a young democracy
As Timor-Leste seeks to expand its digital rights framework, parliamentarians from Southeast Asia urged the country against passing legislation that could undo its efforts to establish itself as Southeast Asia’s most robust democracy.
The call by the ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) followed a fact-finding mission from Sept. 30 to Oct. 2 by incumbent and former lawmakers from Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines to assess the state of internet freedoms in the country.
Currently, Timor-Leste enjoys the distinction of being the only Southeast Asian country categorized as “free” in Freedom House’s Global Freedom Index. It’s also the only Asian country to make the top 10 in the World Press Freedom Index for 2023 of Reporters Without Borders, a significant rise from its 17th place in 2022.
But while the parliamentarians commended the former Portuguese colony’s efforts to uphold democracy and human rights, it noted looming threats to freedom of expression online in the country.
Just a few years ago, the government tried to pass laws hostile to press freedom. In 2020 it proposed the restoration of criminal defamation in the penal code, and less than a year later, the passage of a Cybercrime bill that included vague provisions which critics said could be used to silence dissent. A draft Data Privacy and Protection Law, which was announced in 2021, has similarly raised concerns on its potential for abuse by the authorities.
“We understand that increased internet availability and online expression may require more regulation and monitoring,” said Philippine lawmaker Raoul Manuel. “However, our experiences in our own countries have shown how such regulations, if not accompanied by the necessary safeguards, can result in abuse of power and repression of critical voices.”
Manuel was referring to Malaysia’s Communications and Multimedia Act, the Philippines’ Cybercrime Prevention Act, and Thailand’s Computer-related Crimes Act, all of which have been used against activists, human rights defenders, and journalists.
The visiting parliamentarians urged Timor-Leste to “stay true to the ideals that underlie the country’s foundations” so it could remain a paragon for its neighbors, who have been suffering varying degrees of democratic decline in the past years.