The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) released its 2020 Global Democracy Index, which ranked Hong Kong 87th for the second year in a row for its implementation of the Hong Kong version of the National Security Law and the postponement of the Legislative Council election last year.
The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) released its 2020 Global Democracy Index on Tuesday, which examines the state of democracy in 167 countries and territories around the world. Norway tops the list, while Taiwan is the highest-ranked region in East Asia at No. 11, China is No. 151 and North Korea is at the bottom. Hong Kong, which implemented the Hong Kong version of the national security law last year and postponed the Legislative Council election, fell to 87th place, a year-on-year drop of 12 steps, and lost its status of “flawed democracy”, ranking lower than many Asia-Pacific countries such as Bangladesh, Thailand and the Philippines.
Criticism of Hong Kong’s version of national security law undermines judicial independence
According to The Economist, Hong Kong’s democracy has deteriorated for the second consecutive year, with a score of 5.57 out of 10. It has dropped from the “flawed democracy” category, where it has been for the past 8 years, to the “mixed regime” category, where it is only above authoritarian political systems. Hong Kong’s score is also the second highest in the entire Asia-Pacific region, after Myanmar, which has just undergone a military coup.
Among the various categories, Hong Kong performs better in civil liberties and political Culture, but “election process and pluralism” and “government operation” both score below 4 out of 10. The Economist says the Hong Kong government has suppressed discussions on political reform and implemented a Hong Kong version of the National Security Law on July 1, which restricts Hong Kong’s political freedom and undermines the independence of the judiciary, and that throughout 2020, democracy activists were arrested, hundreds of protesters were jailed, the authorities continued to crack down on opponents, and the Chinese central government did not accommodate political parties that advocate more autonomy for Hong Kong.
China’s rating also remains low, ranking only 151st in the world. The Economist says China’s blockade of Wuhan during the new pneumonia Epidemic and its expansion to other locations as the epidemic spreads has put an estimated 760 million people at Home during the peak, describing it as a draconian approach and a reflection of the Chinese government’s absolute control over its citizens.
Taiwan ranks 11th in the world and highest in East Asia
Despite the regression of democracy in Hong Kong and Myanmar, Taiwan has successfully held general elections in January last year and has risen 20 steps to 11th place in the global democracy ranking, the highest in East Asia, and has progressed from a “flawed democracy” to a full democracy along with Japan and South Korea.
The Economist describes Taiwan as the biggest winner of the year in terms of democracy, moving from 31st to 11th place, with a perfect score of 10 in the category of “election process and pluralism”. The Economist praised Taiwan’s election for demonstrating the resilience of local democracy in the face of the Chinese threat, saying that the high turnout in the election and the high level of participation by young people showed that “active participation in democracy is the best way to protect the future”, and that Taiwan’s insistence on democracy may be influenced by the political situation in Hong Kong.
In addition, The Economist also mentioned that Taiwan’s results in the fight against the epidemic have given Taiwanese people confidence in the government and allowed them to avoid large-scale home and grounding measures, and that Taiwanese people have taken the initiative to cooperate with quarantine, social distance and epidemic tracking measures, but said that there is still room for improvement in the protection of information and privacy in Taiwan.
Epidemic prevention measures lower global democracy ratings
Elsewhere, The Economist says only 8.4% of the world’s population live in “full democracy”, while 35.6% live in authoritarian politics. The global average democracy score has fallen to a low of 5.37, mainly because many governments have implemented anti-epidemic measures to restrict people’s freedom in the wake of the new pneumonia epidemic.
Joan Hoey, editor of the Economist Intelligence Unit’s annual Democracy Index report, said that Asia has performed better than other regions in dealing with the epidemic, not only with lower numbers of infections and deaths, but also with less economic impact, thus maintaining people’s confidence in the government, while European governments have been slow to fight the epidemic, with some health systems almost collapsing and public trust in the government declining, resulting in fewer regions in Europe achieving “full democracy” status. The number of areas in Europe that have reached “full democracy” has decreased.
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