Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats

Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats
Formation15 October 1993 (1993-10-15)
TypeRegional organization
Legal statusActive
PurposeLiberalism
HeadquartersTaipei, Taiwan
Region
Asia
Websitecald.org

The Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats (CALD) is a regional organization of liberal democratic political parties in Asia.

The Council was created on 15 October 1993, in a meeting in Taipei, Taiwan.[1] There are nine member parties, an associate member, and one party with observer status. Currently, many democrats in Asia have a relationship with CALD. CALD has also opened its membership to like-minded individuals, and regularly engages with non-member political parties from Japan and South Korea with which it shares the same democratic values. The Democratic Party of Japan is one of the examples. On the other hand, for the convenience of particular members, they also accept individual members like the situation in Hong Kong. The Democratic Party of Hong Kong is represented in CALD by Martin Lee and Sin Chung Kai. The third individual member of the CALD was Indonesia's ex-President Abdurrahman Wahid (1940–2009). Aung San Suu Kyi and Corazon Aquino (1933–2009) are honorary members of CALD.

The CALD has been sanctioned by the People's Republic of China for allegedly promoting Taiwanese independence.[2][3] The council has called the sanctions unfortunate and said they would not undermine the advocacy work it is engaged in.[4]

  1. ^ "History : CALD | Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats". cald.org.
  2. ^ "MOFA response to April 7 announcement by China's Taiwan Affairs Office to sanction Taiwan's Representative to the US Hsiao Bi-khim, Taiwan-based Prospect Foundation, and Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats". Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of China (Taiwan). 7 April 2023.
  3. ^ "China imposes further sanctions on Taiwan's U.S. representative". CNBC. 6 April 2023.
  4. ^ "Statement of the CALD Chairperson on China's sanctions against CALD and its officials".