In her opening speech, President Tsai Ing-wen said, "Because we cherish democracy very much, Taiwanese people still believe in peace in this atmosphere, and we will continue to fight against forces that seek to shake democracy."

(Photo by reporter Luo Peide)

[Reporter Lv Yixuan/Taipei Report] The World Democracy Conference opened in Taipei, and President Tsai Ing-wen bluntly said in his opening speech that Russia's invasion of Ukraine has shown us the recklessness of totalitarianism. No action can shake the people of Taiwan, "because we cherish democracy very much, and in this atmosphere, Taiwanese still believe in peace, and we will continue to fight against the forces that intend to shake democracy."

The 11th Global Assembly of the World Movement for Democracy kicked off today in Taipei, bringing together more than 200 democracy advocates, policymakers and academics from 70 countries to discuss how to build Resilient democracies and defending civic spaces for experience sharing and exchange.

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The theme of this year's conference is "Declaring the Future of Democracy, the Voice of Unity on the New Front". Maria Ressa, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the World Conference on Democracy and winner of the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize, kicked off the conference. In her speech, she emphasized that in today's world Among them, on social media, lies spread 6 times faster than the truth, and if you tell a lie 1 million times, it will become the truth. , there will be no common space, democracy as we know it will die, and we will not be able to address the threats we face.

Renesas warns that social media has become a platform for information warfare, affecting personal cognition, and also affecting groups at the social level. At the global level, the worst side of human beings will also be revealed. In 2024, many countries around the world will hold general elections. If the next 2 There will be more democratically elected illiberal, fascist leaders around the world without significant progress and improvement in 2018, and we must face this together in solidarity.

Zhang Yumeng, chairman of the Taiwan Youth Democracy Association, the co-organizer, introduced in his speech that in the historical democratic movement in Taiwan, youth has always played an important role.

The wild strawberry movement, the anti-media monopoly, and the sunflower movement all fully demonstrate that Taiwanese youth are concerned about Taiwan's future and Taiwan's independence.

This year is also an important year for youth. In November, Taiwan will hold a referendum on constitutional amendments to decide whether to reduce the right to vote to 18-year-olds.

However, the threshold for constitutional amendment is very high, so many young people have recently taken to the streets, hoping to gain cross-generational support and persuade society to vote for it.

Chairman of the Taiwan Democracy Foundation and President of the Legislative Assembly Yu Xikun welcomed guests from all over the world and explained that this conference is one of the 62 specific commitments made by Taiwan in response to the American Democracy Summit. International Democracy Event.

The Russian-Ukrainian war has made the World Alliance for Democracy re-recognize the fragility of democracy and the need to fight against authoritarianism. We now know that the threat is real and that democracy needs to be defended. Taiwan is at the forefront of defending the democratic way of life. Taiwan's democracy, a century-old pursuit, we cherish We will continue to make more efforts to promote a free and democratic way of life. I hope all distinguished guests can speak freely in the atmosphere of freedom in Taiwan and establish a democratic mutual assistance network.

President Tsai Ing-wen was warmly welcomed by the participants when she entered the venue.

In his speech, the President said that this is a moment for the world. World democracy and the global order are facing the greatest challenge since the Cold War. When the epidemic affects life, we also see more and more authoritarian regimes affecting civil society.

Tsai Ing-wen directly criticized that Russia's invasion of Ukraine is a huge crime, which shows us that totalitarianism is reckless and there are no rules to speak of. Taiwan is threatened by all kinds of civil and military attacks from China, hoping to shake Taiwan's democracy, but so many such No act of intimidation can shake our people, "because we cherish democracy very much, and I am confident to say that in such an atmosphere, the people of Taiwan still believe in peace and will continue to fight against any forces that shake democracy."

The President emphasized that in Taiwan, democracy is a value we believe in, a principle we rely on in the face of challenges, and the core of our response to the pandemic.

Civil society is the biggest contributor to Taiwan's democratization. It actively mobilizes dialogue with the government. In this regard, Taiwan should be a leader in the Asia-Pacific region. Taiwan's young people are now actively promoting the hope of amending the law to lower the voting age.

The President reiterated that Taiwan is obliged to support the Ukrainian people after the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war. We know that only unity can meet the enormous challenges of authoritarianism, and we must not forget resilience and shared values.

The President once again thanked the foreign guests for attending, which is a shot in the arm for Taiwan, and wishes to deepen the democratic connection through such a conference.

Launched in 1999, the World Congress for Democracy is hosted by the National Endowment for Democracy, a global network that promotes cooperation among democrats.

The 11th Congress was co-organized by Taiwan Democracy Foundation, Lixin Foundation, Taiwan Gay Hotline, Taiwan Information Environment Research Center (IORG), and Taiwan Youth Democracy Association.

The conference is also the largest democracy international conference held in Taiwan since the outbreak of the Wuhan pneumonia (COVID-19).

The 11th Global Assembly of the World Movement for Democracy was held in Taipei today.

(Photo by reporter Luo Peide)

President Tsai Ing-wen waves to the guests.

(Photo by reporter Luo Peide)

The 11th "World Democracy Movement" Global Congress was held in Taipei today, bringing together more than 200 democracy advocates, policy makers, scholars and experts from 70 countries.

(Photo by reporter Luo Peide)