Canadian Trade Office in Taipei (CTOT) Executive Director Jordan REEVES met with CY President Chu CHEN on March 5 2021. President Chen remarked that Taiwan and Canada both share a commitment to democratic freedoms and the value of human rights and stated that she hopes Taiwan can learn from Canada’s wealth of experience in the protection of human rights. She also added that she hopes there will be more cooperation between Taiwan and the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC).
President Chen began the meeting by welcoming Mr. Reeves and expressing her gratitude for the CTOT’s support on Facebook of Taiwan’s pineapple farmers and for their putting their voice behind Taiwan’s efforts to join international organizations. She further noted that on August 1 2020, the establishment of Taiwan’s National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) was the fruit of Taiwan’s almost 50-year struggle for democracy and transition out of authoritarian rule. Mr. Reeves praised Taiwan for having become a flourishing democracy in just a few decades since the 1987 lifting of martial law. As a global citizen, Taiwan’s evolution and practical experience have been quite influential, and Canada hopes to have more opportunities for in-depth cooperation with the NHRC in the future.
Canada has a wealth of experience in protecting human rights, President Chen believes, and while Taiwan has established a National Human Rights Commission, there remains work to be done on many issues, including judicial reforms and work on prisoners’ rights. In addition, there need to be efforts made on the educational side to further embed an awareness of human rights issues in the people’s minds and lives. As such, she stated that she would be happy to see more discussions with the CHRC on issues including indigenous peoples’ rights and gender equality. She would welcome the sharing of experience by the commission and is looking forward to opportunities for both sides to meet and learn from one another once the pandemic has passed.