Executive Summary (Excerpt)

The purpose of this document is to provide background material so that the International Review Committee may better understand the politics, economy, and culture of Taiwan. Because of the constraints of space, this document cannot provide a complete Taiwanese history, but only a very superficial history of its political development. However, since every society’s present situation and future development are connected to its past, without an appropriate introduction, it may be difficult to examine our complex society from a suitable standpoint.

As you have read in the human rights State Reports, Taiwan has had the basic conditions and organizational systems for democracy and human rights. Though the existing system meets the basic standards, Taiwanese people aspire to enjoy greater human rights protections.

Table of Contents

1. Executive Summary
2. Taiwan’s International Isolation
3. The Problems of National Identity
4. Political and Constitutional Development
5. Transitional Justice and the Authoritarian Legacy
6. Economic and Social Development
7. Discriminatory Treatment
8. Responses to the Government’s Report
   1. Population, economic, social, and cultural characteristics
   2. Report on Taiwan’s Constitution, Politics and Legal Framework
9. Mechanisms for protecting human rights