The Legislative Yuan

Press Release

September 7, 2023

You Si-kun attends Opening Ceremony of Taiwan International Religious Freedom Summit

 You Si-kun: Feeling sympathy for the repressed, Taiwan is committed to a diversified religious culture

Accompanied by Legislators Hsieh Yi-fong and Chiu Hsien-chih as well as Legislative Yuan Secretary General Lin Jih-jia, Legislative Yuan President You Si-kun attended the opening ceremony of the Taiwan International Religious Freedom Summit (TIRF) co-organized by the Taiwan Presbyterian Church (TPC), ChinaAid, and the Secretariat of the IRF Summit at the Grand Hotel at 9 a.m. on September 7. More than 150 people were in attendance, including Republic of China (Taiwan) Vice President Lai Ching-te, Japanese Representative Miyazawa Hiroyuki; UK MP Ruth Jones, National Human Rights Commission Deputy Commissioner Tsai Chung-yi, Taiwan Foundation for Democracy President Huang Yu-lin, parliamentarians from all over the world, advocates of religious freedom, and victims of religious persecution. 

President You started by expressing how honored he was to attend the TIRF Summit with IRF Summit Co-chair Ambassador Sam Brownback and Co-chair Katrina Swett to discuss global religious freedom’s prospects and challenges. This summit was important for the work of defending international religious freedom, he continued. As TIRF Summit Co-chair and the President of the Legislative Yuan, President You stressed how pleased he was to meet all the distinguished guests who had traveled to Taiwan to support religious freedom. He gave special thanks to the Taiwan Presbyterian Church and ChinaAid for making the event possible.

President You stressed that Taiwan, like many other new democratic countries, had experienced colonial rule and authoritarian repression over the past century. But even as people in the past worked for economic prosperity, they also pursued freedom and democracy. Thanks to their unceasing efforts and perseverance, Taiwan had transformed into a full-fledged democracy with regular legislative and presidential elections and three alternations of political party in power. Taiwan has been acclaimed as the beacon of democracy in Asia. Taiwan’s efforts and achievements have shown that democracy can indeed flourish in Chinese-speaking regions. Taiwan’s achievements have given the lie to the claim by former Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Kuan Yew that human rights and democracy are Western imports unsuitable for Asian nations.

President You further said that along with its democratic development, Taiwan has protected religious freedom and cultivated the growth of faiths. A 2014 report by the Pew Research Center ranked Taiwan second among 232 nations and areas in its Religious Diversity Index. According to the latest Freedom in the World report by Freedom House, Taiwan was 17th among 210 countries and regions and second in Asia for the second consecutive year. For religious freedom, Taiwan had the perfect score of 4. These international rankings show that Taiwan has become a free and democratic country that defends human rights and abides by the rule of law thanks to the collective efforts of the people of Taiwan over many decades.   

Speaking to Taiwan’s democratic development, President You said that the nation’s achievements and freedom did not happen oversight and should not be taken for granted. Taiwan experienced 38 years of martial law and authoritarian rule. People faced religious persecution and repression and their right to assemble freely was curtailed. This was seen in the I-Kuan Tao Incident in the 1950s and the expulsion of Mount Zion believers in the 1980s. Despite these hardships, religious groups worked with democracy advocates to fight for freedom and human rights. Finally, the ban on political parties were broken in 1986 and martial law was lifted in 1987. Because of this history, Taiwan was empathetic with those being persecuted by authoritarian regimes, and Taiwan attaches great importance to creating a society of inclusiveness and respect for diversified cultures. In today’s Taiwan, religious freedom is a basic human right protected under the nation’s constitution. The government fully respect different beliefs and cultures. He was proud to say that on this island, mosques, churches, and temples can be next to each other. Adherents respect each other and coexist peacefully to pray for a better Taiwan.

President You concluded by thanking once again all 150 distinguished guests, including parliamentarians, government officials, scholars, experts, and religious group representative for their participation. He hoped to see in-depth discussions happen at the summit. In closing, he spoke a little about the venue, which was the birthplace of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), founded on September 28, 1986. He had been presiding chair of the meeting that day. After the founding of the DPP, President Chiang Ching-kuo stated during an interview on October 7 that martial law would be lifted the following year. Therefore, the 132 founding members of the party served as facilitators of the end of martial law. He then expressed his delight at meeting old friends again, saying he hoped to work with them to fight for the universal values of freedom and democracy.

In his remarks, IRF Summit Co-chair Brownback stated that President You had delivered the keynote speech at the US International Religious Freedom Summit in early 2023 and received warm feedback. He wanted to thank President You for hosting this summit in Taiwan so soon after the previous summit. The presence of Vice President Lai made him more certain that Taiwan is an important partner supporting religious freedom. Parliamentarians and religious freedom advocates were in Taiwan, he said, because they knew that Taiwan would stand with them, which cannot be said of every country in the region. Therefore, everyone was delighted to be present to support Taiwan through concrete action. He believed that this was Taiwan’s moment because Taiwan is a beacon of democracy. Many people have been persecuted and even killed for their faith. But in accordance with the UN Charter, religious freedom is one of the basic human rights. It is the responsibility of governments to protect the rights of citizens. This was, then, indeed Taiwan’s moment, as a free and democratic Taiwan can be a role model for the Indo-Pacific region.

IRF Summit Co-chair Swett thanked President You for his insights that can further enhance understanding of Taiwan’s history under martial law, which was a very important time for Taiwan in developing democracy and human rights. She learned about Taiwan’s fight for democracy and freedom when she met President You at the IRF Summit in Washington, DC. She knew it had been difficult for the people of Taiwan to fight for human rights and their own identity. She then concurred with Ambassador Brownback’s statement that this was Taiwan’s moment to shine. The TIRF Summit symbolizes that Taiwan stands on the front line in fighting against authoritarian expansionism. China, she said, is the greatest threat to global religious freedom, as it persecutes minorities and cracks down on religious belief. It tramples the universal values of freedom and democracy and attacks basic human rights. All who value freedom and democracy are aware of the China threat. Therefore, participants stand together in thanking the people of Taiwan for defending these rights. She concluded by sharing a story about a thread that cuts across geographic and cultural boundaries to connect all people, saying that it was this thread that connected all global partners concerned with religious freedom.

Japanese Representative Miyazawa, UK MP Jones, TPC Secretary General Reverend Chen Hsin-liang, and ChinaAid Founder and President Pastor Bob Fu also delivered remarks. The opening ceremony concluded as a great success followed by a two-day meeting.