President Lai Ching-te said Oct. 16 that Taiwan is committed to working with democratic partners and organizations including Reporters Without Borders to safeguard press freedom and sustainable democracy in the world.
Lai made the remarks while meeting with Thibaut Bruttin, director general of the France-based nongovernmental organization at the Presidential Office in Taipei City.
The president first thanked the organization, known as RSF, for establishing its East Asia representative office in Taipei in 2017. Taiwan is ranked highly in Asia in several freedom and democracy ratings, he said, citing the country’s top position in Asia in the RSF’s latest World Press Freedom Index.
According to Lai, the number of international media organizations stationed in Taiwan has been increasing each year. He added that the country is an ideal center for global media outlets to gain a foothold in the Asia-Pacific as it is a hub of press freedom in the region.
The president went on to say that government and civil society alike are committed to defending democracy, citing as evidence the government’s dedication to establishing a solid cybersecurity mechanism and the efforts of the country’s NGOs to draft measures to counter disinformation. The Whole-of-Society Defense Resilience Committee was further set up by the PO to strengthen national resilience to deal with such challenges.
Lai concluded by stressing that just as the world needs Taiwan, Taiwan needs the world in the ongoing fight to counter disinformation and authoritarian expansion. The country will continue to expand exchanges with partners to safeguard the democratic way of life, he said.
In response, Bruttin praised Taiwan’s outstanding performance in the RSF’s press freedom index and suggested areas in which his organization hopes to contribute, including formulating public policies to crack down on disinformation on social media, encourage media self-discipline and strengthen the role of public media, as well as exposing external propaganda and foreign interference. (YCH-E)
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from Taiwan Today – Top News