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Focus Taiwan (23 January 2019)

The leader of an international non-governmental organization based in Taipei said Wednesday that while Taiwan has made big strides in the development of democracy, it must guard against complacency in that regard.

Taiwan will continue to champion global freedom and promote its own experience in democratic development internationally, said Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權), president of the World League for Freedom and Democracy (WLFD).

Speaking at a conference to mark World Freedom Day, Tseng said, however, that while Taiwan has seen considerable progress in the development of democracy and rule of law, it cannot slide into complacency.

"There still are obstacles to the development of democracy, rule of law and human rights in our country," Tseng said.

He said this year's World Freedom Day, which is celebrated on Jan. 23 in Taiwan and South Korea, coincided with the 65th anniversary of the WLFD, an international non-governmental organization that evolved from the now defunct World Anti-Communist League which was initiated by the leaders of the Republic of China (Taiwan), South Korea and the Philippines in 1954.

Jan. 23 World Freedom Day commemorates the 14,000 Communist Chinese prisoners of the Korean War who landed in Keelung in northern of Taiwan on that same date in 1954 seeking freedom.

Apart from commemorating those soldiers, who subsequently became known as "anti-communist martyrs," Taiwan also pledges on World Freedom Day to exert all its strength to promote freedom and democracy, and to safeguard world peace and security, Tseng said.

The WLFD is a member of the Department of Public Information/Non-Governmental Organizations (DPI/NGO) of the United Nations.

http://focustaiwan.tw/news/aipl/201901230020.aspx