Is Taiwan A Country Or Not 2026

Julian Sterling
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is taiwan a country or not 2026

Taiwan maintains status as a ‘free’ country: report Taiwan maintained its status as a “free” country and the second freest in Asia in the latest annual report released yesterday by the Washington-based democracy watchdog Freedom House. With an overall score of 93 out of 100, down 1 point from a year earlier, Taiwan ranked second in Asia behind Japan, which scored 96, the Freedom in the World 2026: The Growing Shadow of Autocracy said.

The report assessed access to political rights and civil liberties in 195 countries and 13 territories from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31 last year. Taipei 101 and the Taipei skyline are pictured from the window of an airplane in an undated photograph. Photo: Tyrone Siu, Reuters Taiwan scored 38 out of 40 in political rights and 55 out of 60 in civil liberties. Taiwan’s vibrant and competitive democratic system has enabled regular, peaceful transfers of power since 2000, while protections for civil liberties remain generally strong, Freedom House said.

However, the nonprofit organization also flagged concerns, including insufficient protections for migrant workers and efforts by the Chinese government to influence policymaking, media and democratic institutions in Taiwan. Globally, freedom declined for the 20th consecutive year, which Freedom House described as a grim milestone, citing military coups, violence against peaceful protesters and attempts to erode constitutional safeguards. Finland topped the global rankings with a perfect score of 100, while South Sudan ranked last with zero.

Among the 88 countries rated “free,” the US recorded the sharpest decline, with its score falling 3 points to 81 — its lowest level in more than 50 years — though it remained classified as “free.” The drop reflected legislative dysfunction, a concentration of executive power, growing pressure on freedom of expression and weakened anti-corruption safeguards under US President Donald Trump, Freedom House said. Elsewhere in Asia, China remained categorized as “not free,” with a score of 9, while Hong Kong was rated “partly free” with a score of 41.

Bolivia, Fiji and Malawi were upgraded from “partly free” to “free,” citing competitive elections, improved judicial independence and the strengthening of rule of law, the report said. - You might also like - CDC reports COVID-19 variant case 2026-03-31The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported the first case of a new COVID-19 subvariant — BA.3.2 — in a 10-year-old Singaporean girl who had a fever upon arrival in Taiwan and tested positive for the disease.

The girl left Taiwan on March 20 and the case did not have a direct impact on the local community, it said. The WHO added the BA.3.2 strain to its list of Variants Under Monitoring in December last year, but this was the first imported case of the COVID-19 variant in Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ming-cheng (林明誠) said.

The girl arrived in Taiwan on By Hou Chia-yu - Seoul to revise disputed e-arrival card, report says 2026-04-01South Korea is planning to revise its controversial electronic arrival card, a step Taiwanese officials said prompted them to hold off on planned retaliatory measures, a South Korean media report said yesterday. A Yonhap News Agency report said that the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs is planning to remove the “previous departure place” and “next destination” fields from its e-arrival card system.

The plan, reached after interagency consultations, is under review and aims to simplify entry procedures and align the electronic form with the paper version, a South Korean ministry official said. The fields — which appeared only on the electronic form - Taiwan halts retaliation against S Korea amid naming spat 2026-03-31The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) is suspending retaliation measures against South Korea that were set to take effect tomorrow, after Seoul said it is updating its e-arrival system, MOFA said today.

The measures were to be a new round of retaliation after Taiwan on March 1 changed South Korea's designation on government-issued alien resident certificates held by South Korean nationals to "South Korea” from the "Republic of Korea," the country’s official name. The move came after months of protests to Seoul over its listing of Taiwan as "China (Taiwan)" in dropdown menus on its new online immigration entry system.

MOFA last week - US senators introduce bill to boost Taiwan drone cooperation 2026-04-03A bipartisan group of US senators has introduced a bill to enhance cooperation with Taiwan on drone development and to reduce reliance on supply chains linked to China. The proposed Blue Skies for Taiwan Act of 2026 was introduced by Republican US senators Ted Cruz and John Curtis, and Democratic US senators Jeff Merkley and Andy Kim.

The legislation seeks to ease constraints on Taiwan-US cooperation in uncrewed aerial systems (UAS), including dependence on China-sourced components, limited access to capital and regulatory barriers under US export controls, a news release issued by Cruz on Wednesday said. The bill would establish a "Blue UAS - Copyright © 1999-2026 The Taipei Times. All rights reserved.

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International recognition of Taiwan - Wikipedia?

The girl left Taiwan on March 20 and the case did not have a direct impact on the local community, it said. The WHO added the BA.3.2 strain to its list of Variants Under Monitoring in December last year, but this was the first imported case of the COVID-19 variant in Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ming-cheng (林明誠) said.

Is Taiwan a country or not? - The ConversationTaiwan never was, is not and never will be a country, Wang Yi ...Is Taiwan a country? - factually.coTaiwan maintains status as a ‘free’ country: report - Taipei ...Is Taiwan a country or not? - metropolitandigital.comCountries that Recognize Taiwan 2026 - World Population ReviewCountries that RecognizeTaiwan 2026- World Population ReviewIs Taiwan a country or not? - The ConversationTaiwanmaintains status asa‘free’country: report - Taipei TimesCountries that RecognizeTaiwan 2026- World Population ReviewInternational recognition of Taiwan - Wikipedia?

Taiwan maintains status as a ‘free’ country: report Taiwan maintained its status as a “free” country and the second freest in Asia in the latest annual report released yesterday by the Washington-based democracy watchdog Freedom House. With an overall score of 93 out of 100, down 1 point from a year earlier, Taiwan ranked second in Asia behind Japan, which scored 96, the Freedom in the World 2026:...

Taiwan never was, is not and never will be a country, Wang Yi ...?

The girl left Taiwan on March 20 and the case did not have a direct impact on the local community, it said. The WHO added the BA.3.2 strain to its list of Variants Under Monitoring in December last year, but this was the first imported case of the COVID-19 variant in Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ming-cheng (林明誠) said.

Is Taiwan a country? - factually.co?

The measures were to be a new round of retaliation after Taiwan on March 1 changed South Korea's designation on government-issued alien resident certificates held by South Korean nationals to "South Korea” from the "Republic of Korea," the country’s official name. The move came after months of protests to Seoul over its listing of Taiwan as "China (Taiwan)" in dropdown menus on its new online immi...

Taiwan maintains status as a ‘free’ country: report - Taipei ...?

Taiwan maintains status as a ‘free’ country: report Taiwan maintained its status as a “free” country and the second freest in Asia in the latest annual report released yesterday by the Washington-based democracy watchdog Freedom House. With an overall score of 93 out of 100, down 1 point from a year earlier, Taiwan ranked second in Asia behind Japan, which scored 96, the Freedom in the World 2026:...