"Reverse the Banning
Order"
Lung-chu Chen
The
Department of the Interior decided on March 5th to bar Japanese cartoonist
Yoshinori Kobayashi from entering Taiwan. The decision was based on the
ground that Kobayashi's controversial book, "On Taiwan," especially
concerning Taiwan's "comfort women," was damaging to Taiwan's
"international image" and "national interests."
What is really damaging to Taiwan is this decision to ban the author's
entry, not the book itself. The world is watching closely whether freedom
and democracy here in Taiwan are for real or not. The government should
immediately reverse this decision.
Thanks to the freedom fighters, both at home and abroad, during the past
several decades, Taiwan has transformed itself from an authoritarian state
under martial law into a free, democratic country. In its 2000 Annual
Report, the Freedom House in the United States classified the more than
190 countries in the world into seven categories in terms of the degree of
freedom; Taiwan was for the first time listed in the first category, among
"the freest countries." Now, overnight, the government is resorting to the
tactics of "blacklisting." This is a giant step backward in Taiwan's
democratic journey.
As the new government is committed to the protection of human rights, it
should measure up to international human rights standards, not to retreat
from them. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, commonly regarded as
customary international law binding all states and governments, has firmly
guaranteed the freedom of expression. Article 19 states: "Everyone has the
right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to
hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart
information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers."
As Voltaire said, "I oppose your idea, but I'll fight to the death to
defend your freedom to express your opinion." The comic book "On Taiwan"
should be subjected to the test of "the free market of ideas," not to the
undue interference by the government. We urge the Taiwanese government to
rescind immediately its decision to bar the entry of Kobayashi. It
requires constant vigilance to keep the freedom of expression. |