Against political circumvention: Taiwan’s innovative approach to internalising international human rights

Since 2017, Taiwan has been rejected ‘again’ from participating in the World Health Assembly as an Observer, and this has led to a series of protests from both Taiwanese government and civil society with regard to the hijacking of health rights by international realpolitik (particularly due to the so-called ‘China factor’). Of course, the habitants living in Taiwan have been excluded by not only global health policymaking but also the whole United Nations system since 1971. However, emerging from such a difficult diplomatic context as well as negotiating with the relevant international actors, Taiwanese have developed their own human rights institutions – from voluntary internalising international treaties to creating transnational networks for external monitoring since 2009. This article therefore argues that, by doing so, Taiwan aims to highlight the principle of a human rights-approach to its new state-building, and this, without question, has diverse legal and political implications to both the domestic and international societies. Following this, this article further emphasises the importance and necessity of establishing an independent National Human Rights Institution.