Human rights in Taiwan have long been a global academic focus due to their robust and innovative approach. However, the lack of English literature has created a language barrier, preventing the world from gaining a deeper understanding.
To bridge this gap, the Taiwan Human Rights Hub presents the development of human rights in Taiwan through 11 essays. Topics include the origin and development of human rights in Taiwan, the framework of Taiwan’s constitutional law, constitutional interpretation, the incorporation of human rights treaties, Taiwan’s Human Rights Commission, freedom of expression, digital human rights, indigenous peoples’ rights, disability rights, same-sex marriage, and transitional justice in Taiwan. Additionally, each author records a podcast with the host to briefly introduce their topic to a global audience.
I was assigned to write the part on freedom of expression. My first reaction was to avoid the casebook introduction on those canonical cases and instead dive into the historical context of those cases, which I had never tried to understand. I mainly relied on two books: “The Past and the Present of Taiwan Freedom of Expression” and “Hundred Years of Pursuing.” During this process, I found what I had taken for granted was not that easy at each moment of history. When I started to write the essay, even though I was ambitious to present this historical background, I found I lacked this kind of narrative training in writing the essay. Finally, what I tried to do is embed each canonical case in the stream of the time river. I hope it makes sense.
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