these are not all the serious side effects. now i m back where i belong. ask your doctor about latuda and pay as little as $0 for your first prescription. jillian: time for headlines around the globe in taiwan the president rejecting china s call for reunification remarks coming before a prorated military ceremony on taiwan s national day the president claims taiwan will not vow to pressure in rome house speaker nancy pelosi met yesterday with pope francis at the vatican as a restrictive state law like the one in texas renewed the abortion debate here house speaker calling the meeting spiritual, also in rome the pope met with the colombian none freed after four years in captivity and molly islamist
this democracy is conditional. though self-governing, taiwan is not technically a sovereign street. across the street is china, who claims taiwan is part of its territory and determined to reunify the island with the mainland. in the meantime china exerts control where it can. taiwan s independent elections are allegedly subject to persistence interference from beijing s meddling and disinformation campaigns. and the island is relatively isolated because china makes other nations and international bodies choose, if you recognize and have relations with beijing, you can t have them with taipei. and the backdrop for all of this is the constant threat of military intervention, whether from president xi jinping s bee lidge ript language or from the regular occurrence of chiens warplanes. so for the last year chinese
11 globally, the highest-rated democracy in asia. it jumped 20 spots since 2019, more than any other government in the entire world. taiwan s score is largely driven by its election in january 2020. turnout was an astonishing 75%, and in contrast to another 2020 election, taiwan s election s loser graciously and quickly conceded, calling for unity. the success of this election is a testament to the strength of taiwan s democracy. it s a relatively new system, voters have only picked their own representatives since 1992, and over the last ten years, power has been increasingly consolidated in the hands of the people. in 2012, taiwan began creating a digital democracy, giving citizens tools to debate, audit and collaborate on government digitally. engagements soared. moreover, nearly everyone in taiwan can access the internet
concession, described by harry truman in a civil war around the globe. he noted more countries in the last five years abandoned democracy than embrace it. it s gotten worse in the last year and a half. under the cover of covid, there s been a steady slight towards authoritarianism. for instance, we told you about hungary s flirtation with autocracy, as prime minister viktor orban seized emergency executive powers and stymied opposition. but he s hardly alone. take venezuelan president, cracking down on his regime, and disproportionately subject to coronavirus restrictions. but amidst all of this backsliding, there s one bright spot taiwan. that s according to the new support of the intelligence unit that ranks the island at number
without censorship, so it s no surprise taiwan boasts one of the most free online environments in the world, ahead of other democracies like germany and even the united states. that s according to freedom house. participation is effective offline too. in 2014 student led protesters who objected to a proposed trade agreement with china took to the streets and even occupied parliament. they were successful. the deal was abandoned. taiwan s covid response boosted public trust in the government even further. its population of 24 million had only 16,000 cases. compare that to another island with a similar population, australia, where covid cases are more than five times that number. the economist intelligence unit report applauded taiwan s strategy for avoiding the kinds of restrictions that hampered civil liberties in so many other countries. but for all of its achievements,