Human Rights NGOs of Taiwan: Their Rise, Transformation and Prospects(draft)
Human rights have not been taken seriously in Taiwan until the end of authoritarian
rule in the mid-eighties. Even at that late date the bias of traditional values and the
lingering effect of governmental control made it difficult for the human rights
movement to grow. The rise of human rights NGOs could only have been a tortuous
passage in the long years of authoritarian government. It should come as no surprise
that the first independent human rights NGO-the Taiwan Association for Human
Rights - was closely related to Tang-wai, e.g. the loosely connected political
opposition, and primarily concerned with protection and defense of political
dissidents, as will be discussed later. Given this background, the new political era
since the death of Chiang Ching-kuo could not but produce substantial changes. On
the one hand, it witnessed the emergence of many new human rights NGOs, dedicated
to specific rights and interests, such as women’s organizations, environmental
protection groups and advocates for indigenous peoples, among others. On the other
hand, the very few already established NGOs need to find new purposes to survive.
This turned out to be arduous indeed. As for the future, it would seem that the NGOs
would be given some recognition by the government and be urged to link up with
their international counterparts-this conference being an indication of that tendencyyet they still have their work cut out for them. They need to maintain their
independence, mobilize the resources and learn their skills, so that they can serve their
community effectively.
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In the early months of 1979 the government apparently received information that the
political opposition was about to set up a human rights NGO. To prevent that from
happening and to save the Nationalist Party and the government from embarrassment,
it was decided that the government would preempt the move and organize a human
rights NGO sympathetic to its position and policy. For according to rules and
regulations existing at that time, the first NGO in any field to have registered with the
government would automatically exclude other similar groups from being recognized
by the authorities. Thus was created the Chinese Human Rights Association with
Ambassador Hung Li-wu at its head. It turned out to be handy indeed. For in the
aftermath of the deadly confrontation between the government and the Tang –wai in
December 1979, almost all opposition leaders were imprisoned. To no avail did
Ambassador Hung and his associates make a gallant attempt to explain the
government’s position to the international human rights community. They served,
however, as a liaison between the government and some Tang-wai human rights
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activists incarcerated by the authorities. For example, Dr. Hung and his associates
were reported to have visited Ms. Chen Che and her comrades a few times in jail.
The embryonic opposition human rights NGO was still born, having contributed to
the delivery of the Chinese Human Rights Association. But it was hardly immobile.
Indeed it was busily working in the defense of political dissidents since its
organization in 1984. It drew support both from the community in Taiwan and the
Taiwanese communities abroad, especially that of the U. S. and Japan. It also
managed to gain some support from international NGOs such as Amnesty
International as well as U. S. Congress. Nevertheless, it was a kind of underground
organization, without government endorsement if not directly under the threat of
persecution by the government. It was not registered with the government until 1995
when the opposition party had already captured the city government of Taipei under
Chen Shui-bian. Perhaps a forceful argument could have been advanced that the
Taiwan Association for Human Rights could only identify with the political
opposition. Nevertheless it can’t be denied that such a lineage has made its
transformation in a different epoch much more baffling.
2.
With the end of the authoritarian rule, a new political era began. The effort at political
reforms initiated by Chiang Ching-kuo in 1986 directly led to an upsurge in new
social movements, as if the pent-up energy of the society had finally been released.
Many NGOs were set up for the pursuit of specific concern or interests, such as
women’s organizations, environmental protection groups, advocates for indigenous
peoples, etc. For one reason or another, some organizations declined to identify
themselves as being specifically human rights NGOs. A new pattern was discernable,
nevertheless. The new NGOs were moving from concerns with political dissidence to
that of economic and social interests. Or to put it differently, they were moving from
civil and political rights to that of economic, social and cultural rights. Only a few of
them are selected for brief discussion in this paper given the limitation of space.
Following in the heels of the Consumers’ Education Foundation, which pioneered the
new social movements in the eighties, the formation of the Awakening Foundation,
aiming at the propagation of feminist ideas and the raising of consciousness of the
women, was a critical event. Against heavy odds, Professor Lee Yuan-cheng of
Tamkang University managed to gather together a few like-minded women around
her and started the Foundation in 1982. It was to play a fairly significant role in
bringing other women’s groups into existence, such as the Housewives’ Alliance of
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the Foundation for a New Environment, the Rainbow Group of the Presbyterian
Church and the Women’s Rescue Foundation. By the year 1985, the Foundation was
deeply involved in the passage of the Eugenics and Health Act legalizing abortion and
substantially alleviating the hurt and suffering visited upon the poor. It was not until
1987, however, that the Foundation gained greater publicity from the press. For in the
struggle to save child prostitutes the Foundation moved to line up with other
organizations and took to the streets in demonstrations against injustice, assuming a
militant posture for the first time. During the 1990s, the Foundation was very much
part of the social movement scene, working on many fronts, including enactment of
laws relating to women’s interests as well as defending the rights of the licensed
prostitutes of Taipei. It is significant that the controversy over licensed prostitution
contributed much to infighting within the Foundation and in the women’s rights
movement as a whole. Plainly the discourses on female body and sexuality still posed
a challenge for an increasingly mature women’s rights movement.
The Housewives’ Alliance deserves to be noted in that it deliberately eschewed
feminism and confrontation with the patriarchy, working instead to save the
contemporary family system by nurturing good wives and good mothers for the
present era. Founded in early 1987 by Ms. Hsu Shen-shu, a housewife who had
formerly affiliated with the Awakening group, the Alliance presented itself as part the
environmental protection movement; literally a part of the Foundation for a New
Environment. Through the years its members participated in various activities such as
protesting against advertisement and marketing techniques of the American cigarette
industry, and against the high prices charged by McDonald. In the demonstrations
against McDonald, to the delight of the press and spectators, the volunteer mothers
shouted at the young customers: “go home and eat the burgers your mother make for
you.” How had they moved many people by their gentle approach. In a conference
convened by the China Forum in February 1987 on the role of the female intellectuals
in the development of Taiwan, the Alliance was singled out for praise by many female
scholars precisely for not being as radical as the Awakening Foundation and for
contributing to social reforms through services and not confrontations.
A third NGO related to the rights and interests of women is the Women’s Rescue
Foundation. It was founded in August 1987 by combining the efforts of the
Awakening Foundation, the Rainbow Group, the Taiwan Association for Human
Rights and some lawyers who had for a long time committed to defending child
prostitutes. Ms. Shen Mei-cheng, a lawyer, was elected the first president of the
Foundation, to be succeeded by her colleague Wang Ching-feng, another lawyer. On
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the whole the Women’s Rescue Foundation was wary of the women’s rights
movement, preferring to think of itself as an advocacy group for child welfare. Since
1992, however, the Foundation under the leadership of Miss Wang Ching-feng began
to get involved in the defense of the comfort women during World War II from
Taiwan against the Japanese government. In campaigning for the rights of the comfort
women, Ms. Wang was indefatigable. She helped bring the cases before the Japanese
courts. In the process, the Foundation is clearly identified as a human rights
organization.
Next to women’s rights organizations, the 1980s witnessed a genuine environmental
protection movement of great dynamism and vigor, the claims of the Housewives’
Alliance that environmental protection was a “soft” and “neutral”issue
notwithstanding. In 1986, the community of Lukang succeeded in driving Dupont out
of town, even when the giant multinational corporation had the support of the
government and business sectors. The Environmental Protection League (to be
distinguished from the Foundation for a New Environment referred to above,) was
highly militant, closely tied to the political opposition and committed to fighting the
Nationalist Party and the government, taking the authorities as literally foreign rulers.
It was started by a group of intellectuals, including quite a few professors and
scientists, such as Professors Shi Hsin-min and Chang Kuo-lung in the late eighties
and in early ninetieth Professor Kao Chen-yen. Many of these idealist young men and
women had studied in the U. S. and were deeply impressed by the environmental
protection movement raging in that country. It was their good fortune to have come
upon the controversy of the #4 nuclear power plant in northern Taiwan and managed
to link up with the community in their struggle against the government. The
mobilization was hard work and it took time and efforts. Yet when it succeeded it was
a power that the Taiwan Power Company and the government could not ignore.
At the beginning of the decade-long conflict, the League concentrated its efforts in
educating the common people as to the dangers of nuclear power, arguing that Taiwan
simply could not afford the risks. But it was to no avail given the government’s
determination to proceed with rapid economic development. By the early 1990s, the
stage was set for confrontations when General Hao Po-chun was appointed to the
position of the prime minister and he insisted on a kind of law and order of his version.
The struggle turned political and resulted in a kind of stalemate. The government
pushed on with its plan to build the plant, while the League and its supporters
denounced the decision and harassed the appropriation of funds needed by the project
in the Legislative Yuan. It is indeed ironic that when the new government took over
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power in May this year it was faced with the most unpleasant choice whether to
continue building the plant against the pledge of the Democratic Progressive Party to
do without nuclear power.
By necessity, the concern with environmental protection was closely tied to the
interests of the indigenous peoples. They are the most disadvantageous groups, no
doubt. Their environment, their cultural heritage and their livelihood had been
seriously threatened by rapid economic development sanctioned by the government.
Similar to women’s rights movement and environmental protection movement, the
indigenous intellectuals, especially university students pioneered the struggle for
rights of the indigenous peoples. The Association for the Advancement of Rights of
the Indigenous Peoples of Taiwan was established in 1984, drawing upon the
resources of some existing indigenous student groups. It set its goals to promote
economic autonomy of the indigenous peoples, to oppose policy of assimilation, to
raise the consciousness of the indigenous peoples as well as to safeguard the
fundamental rights of the minorities. Through the years, the movement was closely
identified with the opposition party and the Presbyterian Church. It had fought many a
good fight, such as taking back their land, restoring their original names and opposing
the creation of a state park in Lan-yu. By stages the movement to reclaim rights for
the indigenous peoples has moved in the direction of political self-determination and
autonomy. It is too early to judge what will become of the indigenous peoples.
Modernity and globalization have not been good to them, and it will take hard work
and good fortune to turn things around.
The Amnesty International, Republic of China branch deserves a brief discussion as it
was chartered by and subordinated to the London headquarters. To a surprising degree,
it was involved even before its organization in a deadly political struggle. People with
opposite political commitments, e.g. for unification with China v. Taiwan
independence, vied for recognition of London. It was a fairly ugly affair. After this
thorny issue was settled, Bo Yang, the well-known writer served as its president for a
short time. On the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
the Amnesty International, Republic of China led a campaign coordinated by London
to secure a million signatures on the Universal Declaration. It started auspiciously
with President Lee Teng-hui signing the Declaration in a blaze of publicity.
Unfortunately it was not followed up and the campaign ended in a whimper.
3.
The two most historical NGOs, the Chinese Association for Human Rights and the
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Taiwan Association for Human rights, ironically, were faced with similar dilemma of
how to adapt to the new political era since the mid-eighties. The tasks for which they
had been set up were in a sense accomplished: the former for helping defend the
government record of human rights, while the latter for attacking the government and
protecting the political dissidents. Now they need to transform to survive. The
Chinese Association was faced with shortage of funding as government subsidy
dwindled. In the early 1990s, it sought to concentrate on human rights affairs in China,
hoping that it would give it a new mission and probably also fresh cash. A visit to
China was arranged, the itinerary including talks to legal officials and visits to jails.
Nevertheless, given the Communist Party’s control of the judicial system and the
neglect if not contempt for human rights as understood in the international community,
this gallant attempt could not be as promising as had been anticipated. Soon the
linking up with China was abandoned. For the past few years, Professor Tsai Song-lin,
the Chairman of the Board and Professor Fu Chun-chen, the Secretary-general,
deserve thanks for doing their best to revise the organization.
The Taiwan Association for Human Rights, likewise, was hard pressed for money and
support. The end of the authoritarian government deprived it of its enemy and its goal
as well. For a short while, apparently in a moment of weakness of nerve, it was almost
dissolved. Fortunately it survived, first by turning its attention to human rights
violations by police and military officials, and then to judicial reform. When Peter
Huang was elected the president of the Association in early 1998 and now succeeded
by Mr. Lin Feng-cheng, a young lawyer, the Association has been leading a campaign
of some twenty NGOs in promoting the creation of a national human rights
commission. It is also concerned with the abolition of death penalty as well as human
rights education. It can be said to have found a new life.
4.
In his inaugural speech on May 20 this year, the new President spoke bravely of
returning to international human rights standards, referring in particular to the
international bill of rights, and of creating an independent national human rights
commission. It seems that a new era of rights has descended on the island country.
In a sense it has. Yet it is far too early to assess if the new government is indeed
seriously committed to the promotion of fundamental rights and freedoms in Taiwan,
or is it only a tactical move aiming at pacifying the Western nations and putting
pressures on China. Indeed the Chinese government reacted to the pledge as if it were
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a conspiracy against it. In fact, it is hardly that. For a group of NGOs have been
working for some time in promoting the ideas, coming together in a coalition of 22
NGOs in December 1999. Before the presidential elections, they managed to secure
the endorsement of the ideas by three candidates, including Lien Cheng and Chen
Shui-bian. They also set up a working group to draft a bill for the organization of the
national commission. In a press conference held on June 4, this year, a draft bill was
released for public discussion and comments. Clearly the initiative for getting back to
the international human rights community and setting up a national commission came
from the civil society. It is plain that the push is on, and the NGOs have their hand full
in getting the bill through the Legislative Yuan. Traditional values persist. Many
conservative thinkers and men in the streets probably still sincerely believe that
human rights are alien ideas imposed on Asian people by Western powers. Moreover,
isolation from the United Nations and the international human rights community for
some thirty years deprived Taiwan of knowledge and experience as to both the
evolution of the human rights system as well as the mechanism needed for its
implementation. Finally, the new government is still in the beginning stage of getting
down to business, the bureaucracy tends to be faltering and the Legislative Yuan by
comparison seems to be in control. Against this background, the coalition of NGOs
must succeed in mobilizing public opinion before it can tackle the long process of
guiding the bill through the Legislative Yuan.
5.
From the brief and highly selective account presented above, it is clear that the rise,
transformation and future development of human rights NGOs of Taiwan have been
and will continue to be deeply implicated in the political processes. The government
as well as the political opposition was equally prepared to control and use the NGOs
for their own gains if the latter allowed it to happen. Thus the effort to maintain
autonomy has been and will continue to be a great challenge for the NGOs. Moreover,
it can be seen that with the increasing liberalization and democratization of the
political process, the NGOs were given their opportunity to grow and prosper. Yet to
be successful, they must meet the need of the society or some sectors of the
community; they could not expect to function with vague generalities and abstract
theories. Thus many NGOS emerged in the 1980s to fight for the rights and interests
of particular groups, such as women, indigenous people, or the handicapped. They not
only managed to survive; indications are that they will become more influential in the
decades to come. By contrast, the two historical NGOs, the Chinese Association for
Human Rights and the Taiwan Association for human rights, given their
comprehensive scope and multiple purposes, were confronted with the need to
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transform or perish. Of course, maintaining autonomy and meeting the social needs
are not by themselves sufficient for the long-term survival of the NGOs. They need to
learn the skills and to mobilize the resources in a time of rapid change. For the former,
the skills to manipulate and use the mass media are an absolute, leaving the moral
dilemma of so doing for the time being. On the whole, as a mirror of the community,
the mass media need not be that sympathetic, nor does it really understand the
implications of human rights in every day living of the people. Though the situation is
improving, it is not difficult to find biased and unfriendly reports concerning the
victims of human rights violation. It would take long years of education, or more
precisely, self-education, on the part of the press and mass media to remedy this
serious weakness. As for the latter, in terms of money as well as people, the
competition is keen indeed. The community is still living under the shadows of the
disastrous earthquake of last September, and almost all NGOs are faced with
declining revenue. Moreover, the pay for the workers has been almost dismal and the
employment tends to lead nowhere. Although many idealist young men and women
have been attracted to work in NGOs, the turn over of the personnel is a serious
problem deserving the attention of the society as a whole.
In the years to come, it is almost certain that the NGOs will find it to their advantages
to work more closely together. Many organizations have already learned to form
alliances on particular issues- the coalition to push for a national human rights
commission was only the latest example. Of course, there will be competition as well.
NGOs will rise and fall, no doubt, in a pluralist and democratic society. Moreover, it
is clear that the NGOs of Taiwan will make a concerted effort to link up with the
counterparts in the international community. Again, this trend has long been set. For
example, the humanitarian aid groups and the medical health volunteers have been
very active in many other countries. The NGOs could also be expected to attempt to
approach the IGOs and U. N. affiliated organizations. Whether they would be
successful or not much hinges upon political fortune of Taiwan in the world
community.
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