The TFD has been able to fulfill its promise over the last six years because of two attributes that have also contributed to the NED’s success,” Gershman said.
“The first is its independence and arms-length relationship to the government that have enabled it to carry out its mission free of political interference or control; and the second is a commitment to bipartisanship in its governance, so that no matter which party is in government, the operations and basic direction of the Foundation will remain constant,” he said.
六月的時候曾經轉載一篇美民主黨議員致函要求歐巴馬政府協助台灣民主基金會(TFD)獨立運作的新聞.因為馬政府試圖以撤換人事的方式干預基金會的運作. 當時還有篇新聞是National Endowment for Democracy (NED) 的President(主席)Carl Gershman 致馬先生的一封信(見下面US group pressures Ma on TFD shuffle連結). 信中同樣提到撤換人事引人擔憂(“It has come to my attention through reports in the press that broad changes are being proposed for the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy. I am concerned that such an overhaul could well compromise both the Foundation’s independence and the quality of its work.”). Gershman並提到除了一些國會議員外,其他組織如自由之家等也有同樣的憂慮(While the NED may be the only organization to quickly react this strongly, a number of Washington-based groups — including Freedom House and the Formosan Association for Public Affairs — are known to be deeply concerned about reports of Ma’s alleged plans to interfere with and restrict the TFD.)Gershman並在信中提到基金會得以成功運作有兩點原因:其一是與政府抱持距離以免政治干預或操控(its independence and arms-length relationship to the government that have enabled it to carry out its mission free of political interference or control),其二是確保不論哪個政黨執政,基金會都必須信守推行民主運動的承諾(the second is a commitment to bipartisanship in its governance, so that no matter which party is in government, the operations and basic direction of the Foundation will remain constant).
不管是來自美國民主基金會(NED)也好,來自美議員的擔憂也罷,這些擔憂台灣民主倒退的忠告或公開信並不足以給馬政府足夠的壓力.類似於馬政府透過新聞局回函駁斥來自美國等多名學者的第三封與第四封公開信,外交部長歐鴻鍊以TFD副主席的身分直接跳過王金平主席回覆了一封措詞嚴厲的信件.信中提到NED不該干涉台灣內政. (謎之音:對美日措辭強硬,怎麼對中國就硬不起來了啊?)
外交部長措詞嚴厲且越過王金平的信在近日受到一些批評.這是相關的漢語報導(去函美方 歐鴻鍊跳過王金平).
轉載該新聞原文如下:
Foreign minister under fire for letter to U.S. National Endowment (2009-07-29 )
Foreign Minister Francisco Ou was wrong to write a letter to the president of the United States National Endowment for Democracy Foundation about the state of Taiwan's democracy, lawmakers said yesterday.
Ou was responding to a letter from the U.S. institution's president, Carl Gershman, who had expressed concern about recent leadership changes at Taiwan's Democracy Foundation.
Since Ou was only a vice chairman of that organization, he should not have bypassed its chairman, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng, lawmakers said.
Government critics in Taiwan and human rights circles in the U.S. have expressed concern that the government of President Ma Ying-jeou is trying to remove supporters of the former Democratic Progressive Party administration from the foundation.
Gershman wrote a letter discussing his concerns about possible backtracking of democracy and human rights in Taiwan, but Ou wrote a reply asking him to respect Taiwan's autonomy in the matter.
Instead of writing in his capacity of vice chairman of the Democracy Foundation, Ou should have first consulted Wang, lawmakers said.
DPP chief legislative whip Chai Trong-rong said Ou's long track record as a diplomat posted to Latin American countries made him unaware of how important the National Endowment for Democracy was.
The foreign minister bypassing the legislative speaker would give the U.S. the impression that Taiwan's executive branch could do what it wanted without consulting the Legislature, standing outside normal democratic supervision, said DPP legislator Yeh Yi-jin.
Kuomintang lawmaker Lin Yu-fang said there was no rule barring Ou from writing letters overseas, but said it would have been more polite if the Foreign Minister had first consulted Wang.
KMT legislator Lee Hung-chun, a foundation board member, said that if Ou wanted to write in name of the group, he should have asked all of its board members.
以下是此事件的一些相關的報導.
Ministry defends Ou's letter to US foundation(2009-07-29)
Reshuffle at TDF done democratically, Ou says (2009-07-03)
Editor's note: In CEP 0018, headlined Foreign Ministry defends reshuffle of Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, please delete the last paragraph which incorrectly stated that Gershman's letter was delivered to the MOFA June 29. (2009-07-02)
按:該信件是給馬先生不是給外交部.這是中央社發出的更正啟示
US group pressures Ma on TFD shuffle (2009-06-21)COMPROMISED: In a letter to Ma Ying-jeou, the National Endowment for Democracy said it had concerns over the independence of the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy By William Lowther
按:此文前三段就提到馬先生上任後對資助民主運動的TFD動刀引起廣泛報導
Carl Gershman, president of the Washington-based National Endowment for Democracy (NED), has written to President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), calling on him not to interfere with the structure and policies of the highly respected Taiwan Foundation for Democracy (TFD).
It has been widely reported that the Ma administration intends to make major changes to the foundation’s governing board and to stop it from offering financial support to pro-democracy movements in China, Tibet and Cuba.
.........(後略)
Democrat to seek help for TFD (2009-06-22)
GOING TO THE TOP: A White House official said the US president would give every consideration to a letter appealing for support for the pro-democracy organization
By William Lowther
STAFF REPORTER , WASHINGTON
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