Tsai Ing-wen was awarded the 2020 Makan Public Service Leadership Award, which she said was an honor for all the people of Taiwan. The picture shows the 109th National Day Convention, Tsai Ing-wen thanked the epidemic prevention personnel.
The Halifax Forum for International Security (HFX), one of the world’s most reputable forums for defense affairs, officially tweeted a video on March 3 announcing that President Tsai Ing-wen of the Republic of China is the winner of the 2020 John McCain Prize for public service leadership, recognizing her for her fearlessness of the Chinese Communist Party’s oppression of Taiwan. The award recognizes her spirit of defiance of the Chinese Communist Party’s oppression of Taiwan. Tsai said her award is not personal, but an honor for all the people of Taiwan, and emphasized that democracy and freedom are the medals of Taiwan’s standing in the world.
The first Makan Award was presented in 2018 to the people of Lesbos, Greece, for their rescue of refugees in the Middle East and Africa, and the second in 2019 to the people of Hong Kong for their struggle to defend human rights and promote democratic reform.
When HFX decided to award the 2020 Makan Prize to Tsai, the late Senator Makan’s widow, Cindy, also endorsed the decision, and U.S. Senator Rubio also issued a statement in support of Tsai. However, it has gone through a highly dramatic development, triggering much debate and concern among the U.S., Canada, Taiwan and China.
On April 11, Politico, a U.S. political news website, was the first to report that the Washington, D.C.-based HFX had been involved in a stalemate in Canada-China relations over its intention to award the Makan Prize to Tsai; the Canadian government, HFX’s largest sponsor, privately threatened to stop sponsoring the forum for fear of angering Beijing.
However, after a number of pro-Taiwan legislators campaigned for the award, the Canadian House of Commons finally passed the proposal on April 15 without dissent, agreeing that Tsai was the ideal candidate for the Makan Award.
The motion was moved by Rep. Michael Chong, the Conservative Party’s Shadow Minister of Foreign Affairs.
The motion reads, “The House agrees with the statement of the Vice-Chair of the Halifax International Security Forum that Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen is a respected international leader, the first female president of Taiwan, and a strong advocate for global democracy, and that she is undoubtedly an ideal candidate for the Makan Award for Leadership in Public Service; calls on the Forum to award the Makan Award to President Tsai Ing-wen, and on the Canadian government to continue to provide the current level of funding to the Forum. The Canadian government should also continue to provide the Forum with its current level of funding.”
According to The Globe and Mail (Canada), the Canadian Department of National Defence’s annual sponsorship of the HFX Forum for 2019-20 is approximately C$3 million (approximately $2.46 million).
The image may contain the following content: 1 user and the text “Awarded the Halifax International Security Forum, John McCain Prize for Leadership for Public Affairs Honoured to the people of Taiwan Forum, John McCain Prize for Leadership in Public Service. This award belongs to all the people of Taiwan. Û is defined by our core values of freedom and democracy. @iing tsai_ingwen” Taiwan Presidential Office spokesperson Tun-Han Chang said this morning that President Tsai Ing-wen was honored to receive the award, and she said The award is not personal, but an honor that belongs to all the people of Taiwan. Tsai said, “Democracy and freedom are the best medals for Taiwan’s standing in the world,” and that Taiwan’s success in preventing epidemics proves that a united Taiwan is capable of contributing to a force for good around the world.
The award was established in honor of the late U.S. Senator John McCain, who fought for democracy and freedom throughout his life and worked tirelessly to enhance Taiwan’s security.
The 13th annual HFX Forum was held in Halifax, Canada, November 19-21.
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