The World Forum for Democratization in Asia (WFDA) was set up in 2005 to enhance and promote democracy in Asia. WFDA's secretariat is based in Taipei, Taiwan at the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy (TFD). WFDA has organized several conferences between various civil society organizations, most notably its Biennial Conferences.
The first Biennial was held in Taipei, Taiwan [1] and was designed to "discuss and adopt guidelines to promote the solidarity of Asian democracies, support democracy activists who are opposed to authoritarian regimes, and solicit support from the international community on democratization in Asia" [2]
The second Biennial was held in Manila, Philippines. [3] The third Biennial was held in Seoul, South Korea around the eve of World Democracy Day. A brief controversy ensued when South Korea decided to bar the entry of a Uigyhur activist of German nationality who was scheduled to attend the conference. [4]
In the art world, a Biennale, Italian for "biennial" or "every other year", is a large-scale international contemporary art exhibition. The term was popularised by the Venice Biennale, which was first held in 1895, but the concept of such a large scale, and intentionally international event goes back to at least the 1851 Great Exhibition in London.
The World League for Freedom and Democracy (WLFD) is an international non-governmental organization of anti-communist politicians and groups. It was founded in 1952 as the World Anti-Communist League (WACL) under the initiative of Chiang Kai-shek, leader of the Republic of China and retired General Charles A. Willoughby that united mostly right-wing authoritarian people and organizations, and acted with the support of the right-wing authoritarian regimes of East Asia and Latin America. During the Cold War, WACL actively participated in anti-communist and anti-Soviet positions.
The Wall Street Journal Asia, a version of The Wall Street Journal, was a newspaper that provided news and analysis of global business developments for an Asian audience. Formerly known as The Asian Wall Street Journal, it was founded in 1976 and was printed in nine Asian cities: Bangkok, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei, and Tokyo. Average circulation for 2011 was 83,421. Its largest markets in order of importance were: Hong Kong, Singapore, the Philippines, Japan, Thailand, South Korea, Indonesia, Taiwan, Malaysia, China, India, and Vietnam. The final print edition of the newspaper was published on 9 October 2017.
World Movement for Democracy is an international network of individuals and organizations who share the common goal of promoting democracy.
Taiwan is a multi-party democracy. The 2000 presidential victory of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate Chen Shui-bian followed more than 50 years of rule by the Kuomintang (KMT) and marked the first transition from one political party to another in the Taiwanese history, reported by a Government Information Office (GIO) website as the "first ever in Chinese history". This followed gradual democratic reforms since the 1980s and 1990s; most notably, martial law was lifted in 1987, and the Temporary Provisions Effective During the Period of Communist Rebellion were repealed in 1991 for Republic of China Constitution to be effective in Taiwan. The human rights record in Taiwan is generally held to have experienced significant transformation since the 1990s.
Radio Taiwan International is the English name and call sign of the Central Broadcasting System (CBS), national broadcaster and international radio service of Taiwan. It is a government-owned station that broadcasts in 14 languages around the world via the internet, shortwave and podcasts. It also has Facebook fan pages in five additional languages. The station’s hosts and programs have won many national and global broadcasting awards.
The Community of Democracies (C.O.D), established in 2000, is an intergovernmental coalition of states. Its aim is to bring together governments, civil society and the private sector in the pursuit of the common goal of supporting democratic rules, expanding political participation, advancing and protecting democratic freedoms, and strengthening democratic norms and institutions around the world. The Warsaw Declaration had outlined the task of promoting democracy. It is disputed if the coalition qualifies as an International Organization in the legal sense.
This is a gallery of international and national flags used in Asia.
International reaction to the 2007 Burmese anti-government protests ranges from support of the protestors through neutrality to support of the State Peace and Development Council, the ruling junta. While most countries supported the protests and urged the Myanmar's State Peace and Development Council ruling military Junta to implement far-reaching reforms, several key countries, such as the People's Republic of China and India maintained commitment to the notion of noninterference. A number of protests against the Burmese Government's crackdown have been held worldwide.
South Korean–Taiwan relations
Oslo Freedom Forum (OFF) is a series of global conferences run by the New York–based non-profit Human Rights Foundation under the slogan "Challenging Power". OFF was founded in 2009 as a one-time event and has taken place annually ever since. The forum aims to bring together notable people, including former heads of state, winners of the Nobel Peace Prize, prisoners of conscience, as well as of other public figures in order to network and exchange ideas about human rights and exposing dictatorships.
The Taiwan Foundation for Democracy is a non-partisan non-profit organisation headquartered in Taipei. Originally initiated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China in June 2003, the foundation's purpose is to promote democracy around the world.
Since 2006, the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy confers the Asia Democracy and Human Rights Award on an individual or organization that has made major contributions through peaceful means to the development of democracy in Asia or human rights in Asia. Every year the award is conferred in December in Taipei during a special ceremony.
The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) [previously known as Forum-Asia] is a membership-based regional human rights organisation with 85 member organisations in 23 countries across Asia. It is committed to the promotion and protection of all human rights including the right to development.
The Asian Science Camp (ASC) is an annual forum for pre-collegiate and college students which aims at promoting discussion and cooperation among Asian students for the betterment of science in the Asian region. The first ASC was held at Taipei in 2007, and was subsequently held at Bali (2008), Tsukuba (Japan) (2009), Mumbai (2010), Daejeon (South Korea) (2011), Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Jerusalem, Israel) (2012). This idea of an annual camp was co-proposed by Yuan Tseh Lee and Masatoshi Koshiba at the 2005 Nobel Laureate Meetings at Lindau. The ASC is modeled after the Lindau meetings.
The Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences (FABC) is an association of episcopal conferences of Catholic Church in South, Southeast, East and Central Asia. The federation fosters solidarity and joint responsibility for the welfare of the Church and of society in the region.
Asia Catalyst is an Asian independent organization that promotes civil society and advances the right to health for marginalized groups in Asia. Since its founding in 2006 by Sara L.M. Davis, the organization has opened offices in New York,United States,Beijing,China and Bangkok,Thailand; The group also successfully established 200 communities in 11 Countries.
Asia Pacific Deaf Games is a deaf multi-sport event established in 1984 which is held every 4 years in the Asia Pacific region. It is the successor to the "Far Eastern Deaf Football Championship" which was held in Taipei in 1983. The inaugural games was held in 1984 in Hong Kong. At that time, the games was known as the Asia Pacific Deaf Football Championship which was held biennially until 1988. In 1988, the games' governing body Asia Pacific Deaf Sports Confederation was formed during the 3rd Championship in Melbourne, Australia with Ms. Wendy Home as its first administrator. The games changed its name to its present name, the Asia Pacific Deaf Games when the games was held in Seoul, South Korea in 1992 after Asia Pacific Deaf Sports Confederation passed a resolution to change the name of the games, which has since been held once every four years.
The Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan is a Korean non-governmental organization advocating the rights of the surviving comfort women and lobbying the Japanese government to take actions of a full apology and compensation.