The influential US think tank Freedom House has announced plans to set up an office in Taipei. In a tweet posted on Friday, the organization said its new office will help support human rights and democracy in the Indo-Pacific region.
Freedom House describes itself as “an independent watchdog organization dedicated to the expansion of freedom and democracy around the world.” It gets more than 90% of its funding from the US government.
The organization is best known for its annual Freedom in the World report, which classifies countries as “free,” “partly free” or “not free.” In 2021, the report gave Taiwan a score of 94 out of 100 and said the country was free.
In a tweet announcing the new office on Friday, Freedom House said it looks forward to expanding its presence in Taiwan, which it calls “one of Asia’s most robust democracies.”
Right now, Freedom House says it has two offices in the United States and 12 field offices around the world. It has not announced when its new Taipei office will open.