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People Over Pandas: Taiwan’s Engagement of International Human Rights Norms with Respect to Disability

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Taiwan and International Human Rights

Part of the book series: Economics, Law, and Institutions in Asia Pacific ((ELIAP))

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Abstract

Taiwan’s early law (1980) regarding disability presumed a medical model—i.e., seeing disability as an individual problem rather than a societal responsibility. Facing considerable discrimination and inspired by the social model embodied elsewhere, including in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), citizen activists, including disabled persons organizations, have pressed for legislative reform. Following the earlier support of the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou for incorporation of the United Nations Human Rights Covenants into domestic law (owing to Taiwan’s being barred from formal accession), the Legislative Yuan in 2014 passed a bill designed to incorporate the CRPD into Republic of China (R.O.C) law. That measure not only retained all key provisions of the CRPD but also called on the Executive Yuan to conduct a comprehensive review of existing legal measures for compliance and pro-actively to engage persons with disabilities in implementing the new law, while also establishing innovative reporting and monitoring mechanisms intended to parallel the requirements of the CRPD. Much progress has been achieved but serious challenges remain regarding discrimination, especially with respect to employment and reasonable accommodations, while some scholars have questioned the suitability of a highly individual-focused rights-based model for Taiwanese society. Disabled persons organizations continue to play an active role both in policy and legal advocacy and in seeking to educate the public more broadly about disability.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    See, e.g., Winckler (1992).

  2. 2.

    See, for instance, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities arts. 3–4, 29, 33, 36, 13 Nov 2006, 2515 U.N.T.S. 3 [hereinafter CRPD] as well as Stein and Lord (2010).

  3. 3.

    Alford (2014).

  4. 4.

    We intentionally use the translation provided by the Ministry of the Interior throughout this chapter.

  5. 5.

    For more on the various models of disability law, see Stein (2007).

  6. 6.

    Hu (2017).

  7. 7.

    Id.

  8. 8.

    Taiwan’s democratization is chronicled in Chu and Lin (2001).

  9. 9.

    Again, the translation is that of the Ministry of the Interior.

  10. 10.

    This paragraph draws from the very fine doctoral dissertation by Chen Yu-jie (2016).

  11. 11.

    Interview with Liao YH, Professor, National Chengchi University (3 Aug 2017) [hereinafter Liao Interview].

  12. 12.

    Id.

  13. 13.

    Hu (2017).

  14. 14.

    Qiu and Li (2009).

  15. 15.

    Hu (2017).

  16. 16.

    See, e.g., Wang (2008), Chang (2007), Tsai and Ho (2010), Chou and Zhu (2011).

  17. 17.

    Covenants Watch (2017), p. 1.

  18. 18.

    World Health Organization and World Bank (2011).

  19. 19.

    See Wang (2008), p. 13.

  20. 20.

    Hu (2017).

  21. 21.

    See, e.g., the work of the League which, in time, gathered the support of more than 127 groups. See also Interview with Chang HH, Professor, National Taipei University (7 July 2017) [hereinafter Chang Interview].

  22. 22.

    Liao Interview.

  23. 23.

    Hu (2017), Chen (2016).

  24. 24.

    Executive Yuan (2017).

  25. 25.

    Id., at p. 8, annex 1 (Fagui Jianshi Zhuzhou Jihua [法規檢視主軸計畫] (Standard Procedures for Reviewing Domestic Legislation and Regulations).

  26. 26.

    Interview with Shi SJ, Professor, National Taiwan University (18 July 2017) [hereinafter Shi Interview]. One of the co-authors of this piece, Charles Wharton, was a keynote speaker at this conference.

  27. 27.

    Chang Interview; Shi Interview.

  28. 28.

    For an excellent study of the courts and the role of the Constitution on Taiwan, see Yeh (2016).

  29. 29.

    Liu NP. The Government of New Taipei City, 105 Jian Shang Zi Di 170 Panjue [105簡上字第170號判決] (Taipei Admin. High Ct. [臺北高等行政法院] 11 Oct 2016) (Taiwan) and Pu T-s [蒲桃松] v. Government of New Taipei City [新北市政府] et al., 104 Jian Kang Zi Di 33 Hao Cai Ding] [104簡抗字第33號裁定] (Taipei Admin. High Ct. [臺北高等行政法院] 13 Apr 2016) (Taiwan).

  30. 30.

    See, e.g., Fiala-Butora (2016).

  31. 31.

    Readers should also see Professor Sun’s piece in this volume. Sun (2017).

  32. 32.

    See, e.g., Covenants Watch (2017); and League (2017).

  33. 33.

    Interview with Huang YB, Chief Executive Officer, Covenants Watch (19 July 2017) [hereinafter Huang Interview].

  34. 34.

    The League’s intricate strategy is discussed in an Interview with its Secretary-General Emma Teng (11 July 2017).

  35. 35.

    Participating groups ran the gamut from “traditional” DPOs, such as the Taiwan Association for Disability Rights, to newer disability-oriented organizations, such as Hand Angel (the mission of which is “advocating sex rights of the…disabled”), to entities with a general mandate, such as the Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty.

  36. 36.

    Executive Yuan (2017).

  37. 37.

    Covenants Watch (2017), p. 1.

  38. 38.

    Sun (2017).

  39. 39.

    See Huang Interview.

  40. 40.

    Covenants Watch (2017), p. 1.

  41. 41.

    Id., at p. 17.

  42. 42.

    Id., at pp. 7–8.

  43. 43.

    League (2017), p. 1.

  44. 44.

    Covenants Watch (2017), p. 1.

  45. 45.

    Id.

  46. 46.

    Interview with Wang KY, Professor, National Chung Cheng University (28 June 2017).

  47. 47.

    Interview with Chang G, Secretary, Taiwan Association for Disability Rights (6 June 2017).

  48. 48.

    Interview with Chien YH, Senior Supervisor, Department of Social Work, Child Welfare League Foundation and Li HW, Director of Advocacy Center, Child Welfare League Foundation, National Taiwan University (17 Mar 2017).

  49. 49.

    Interview with Liao YH, Professor, National Chengchi University (11 Jan 2016).

  50. 50.

    Freeman et al. (2015).

  51. 51.

    League (2017), pp. 3–4.

  52. 52.

    Covenants Watch (2017), p. 33.

  53. 53.

    See, e.g., Stein (2003).

  54. 54.

    Covenants Watch (2017), p. 8.

  55. 55.

    Id., at p. 33.

  56. 56.

    Chang Interview.

  57. 57.

    Covenants Watch (2017), pp. 8–10.

  58. 58.

    Executive Yuan (2017), p. 76.

  59. 59.

    League (2017), pp. 19–21 and Covenants Watch (2017), pp. 75–82.

  60. 60.

    See, e.g., Taiwan Community Living Consortium (2017).

  61. 61.

    Covenants Watch (2017).

  62. 62.

    Id., at p. 91.

  63. 63.

    Article 33 of the CRPD specifies national implementation and monitoring.

  64. 64.

    Covenants Watch (2017).

  65. 65.

    Shih (2014), Huang (2015).

  66. 66.

    Id.

  67. 67.

    Huang (2015).

  68. 68.

    Sun (2017).

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thanks Lee Yi-li, Michael Stein and Cui Fengming for their insights. We remain responsible for opinions expressed and errors contained in this chapter.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Harvard Law School, Cambridge, USA

    William P. Alford, Qiongyue Hu & Charles Wharton

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  1. William P. Alford
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Correspondence to William P. Alford .

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  1. U.S.-Asia Law Institute, New York University, New York, NY, USA

    Jerome A. Cohen

  2. Harvard Law School, Cambridge, MA, USA

    William P. Alford

  3. Constitutional Court, Taipei, Taiwan, Taiwan

    Chang-fa Lo

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Alford, W.P., Hu, Q., Wharton, C. (2019). People Over Pandas: Taiwan’s Engagement of International Human Rights Norms with Respect to Disability. In: Cohen, J., Alford, W., Lo, Cf. (eds) Taiwan and International Human Rights. Economics, Law, and Institutions in Asia Pacific. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0350-0_36

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