TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan maintained its ranking as the second freest country in Asia and kept its rating as seventh in the world in Freedom House’s latest report on global freedom.

Taiwan repeated last year's score of 94 out of 100, making it the second-freest country in Asia behind only Japan, which retained its score of 96. Taiwan is tied for seventh place in the world with Germany, Estonia, Chile, Barbados, and Iceland.

In Freedom House's country report Taiwan, the nation again scored 38 out of 40 for political rights and 56 out of 60 for civil liberties, yielding an overall score of 94, and it continues to be classified as a "Free" country on the list.

Sweden, Finland, and Norway tied for first place, New Zealand came in second, and Canada ranked third. On the other end of the spectrum, China ranked as the eighth least free country with a score of 9, which was even lower than Sudan and Libya's scores of 10. China came in 80th place overall, with a score of -2 for political rights and 11 for civil liberties, and a classification of "Not Free."

In terms of internet freedom, Taiwan scored 79 out of 100, putting it in fifth place behind fourth placed Canada and third placed Costa Rica. Estonia came in second and Iceland took the top spot with a score of 95.

As for its report on Taiwan, Freedom House pointed out that the massive military exercises launched by China in response to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's trip to Taiwan coincided with "pro-China actors" conducting cyberattacks and distributing disinformation. The organization noted that although Taiwan lifted many of its COVID regulations, migrant workers in the country "continued to face restrictions."

The report observed that the opposition Kuomintang took the top positions in 13 out of Taiwan's 22 counties and cities, prompting President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to immediately step down as Democratic Progressive Party chair. The group also highlighted the fact that a proposed constitutional amendment that would have lowered the age to vote and run for office to 18 failed in a November referendum.

The report evaluates 210 countries and regions around the world, and uses local people's access to political rights and civil liberties as the key indicators. The sources for the report include on-the-ground research, local contacts, news articles, nongovernmental organizations, and governments, among others.