“The establishment of a democratic system is only the first step toward human rights guarantees. A popularly elected government that is not monitored and does not follow the law, but continues to violate the law and abuse its power, will create discrimination and opposition. If we want to build a normal democratic society, it will be necessary to actively improve Taiwan’s political, economic and social human rights. If we do not, Taiwanese democracy will become but an empty shell. The government’s legal violations and abuse of power and social injustice will not disappear simply as a result of democracy’s good name,” President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said in 2008 in A Declaration of Human Rights for Taiwan in the New Century.




