Premier Lin Chuan said today that freedom of speech is both a core value and a stimulus for social improvement in countries around the world, and goes hand-in-hand with freedom of thought and freedom from fear. As freedom of speech also creates a platform for the rational exchange of ideas, the government must uphold that freedom to establish a rational and mature democratic society, while promoting independent thinking.
Speaking at a forum organized by the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) at National Taiwan University, the premier said that April 7 was chosen as Freedom of Speech Day in Taiwan to commemorate that date in 1989 when Cheng Nan-jung self-immolated. Cheng's ardent pursuit of "100 percent freedom of expression" gained widespread sympathy, and paved the way for subsequent democratic reforms including the repeal of the Act for the Control and Punishment of Rebellion and amendments to Article 100 of the Criminal Code, direct fruits of Taiwan's efforts to promote democracy and freedom of expression.
Free speech is currently facing new challenges from the digital divide, international political and commercial forces, a virtual world rife with controversies, and unseemly comments that fuel cyber bullying.
To meet these challenges, the Cabinet has worked to ensure that freedom of speech informs all of the government's policies. A prime example is the Executive Yuan's proposed Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Program, with digital infrastructure construction plans that make broadband access a basic human right, seeking social equality in terms of participation in cyberspace and the sharing of resources.
The freedom of speech and human rights protections that the people of Taiwan enjoy were paid for by the blood and sweat of countless democracy pioneers, the premier said, and the government will do everything in its power to defend those rights, and prevent them from being undermined or diminished in any way.
The premier then toured an on-site exhibition on the history of free speech in Taiwan, guided by Lin Ching-chi, director of the MOI's Department of Civil Affairs. The exhibit looks back through Taiwan's developmental stages from the period of "restraint," to a "breakthrough," and on to the current period of "challenges and reflections," exploring major historic events and the issues of the day.
The MOI said that the forum was held on a school campus to spur government-public dialogue so that both parties could discuss current issues and challenges facing free speech in Taiwan, and protect the nation's hard-won freedoms and democracy.