I strongly disagree with Charles Liu's views about Falun Gong muddling facts (Letters, Dec. 29, page 8).
Why is Beijing's abysmal track record in the spotlight lately? It is not surprising, especially with the news of Beijing officials profiting from live organ harvesting from Falun Gong members. Investigative reports maintain that it has been going on since 2000.
The world response to what Kilgour-Matas have condemned has been encouraging, with a recent hearing in a US Congressional sub-committee and Amnesty International's New Zealand branch calling for further investigation.
The Taiwanese, Finnish and Australian governments, as well as the European Parliament, have backed the allegations. But so far China hasn't granted permission to any international observers to probe the allegations. On the contrary Beijing arrested and silenced the human rights lawyer, Gao Zhisheng (高智晟), who extended an invitation to the Kilgour-Matas research team.
For such an abhorrent practice to be allowed to take place in the 21st century is unacceptable. By all means, China should be held accountable for such crimes against humanity. In the run-up to the 2008 Olympics it would be in China's best interest to live up to the promises they made to secure the games -- that is, to improve their rights record.
With the recent shooting of Tibetans at the border, intensified crackdown on human rights lawyers along with tightened Internet and press censorship, not to mention widespread corruption, China's rights record is in decline. It is clear that this long list of violations, including organ harvesting, has put Beijing apologists on the spot leaving them with very little to say.
Marie Beaulieu
Victoria, Canada
The gutting of Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA) by US President Donald Trump’s administration poses a serious threat to the global voice of freedom, particularly for those living under authoritarian regimes such as China. The US — hailed as the model of liberal democracy — has the moral responsibility to uphold the values it champions. In undermining these institutions, the US risks diminishing its “soft power,” a pivotal pillar of its global influence. VOA Tibetan and RFA Tibetan played an enormous role in promoting the strong image of the US in and outside Tibet. On VOA Tibetan,
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), the leader of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), caused a national outrage and drew diplomatic condemnation on Tuesday after he arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office dressed in a Nazi uniform. Sung performed a Nazi salute and carried a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf as he arrived to be questioned over allegations of signature forgery in the recall petition. The KMT’s response to the incident has shown a striking lack of contrition and decency. Rather than apologizing and distancing itself from Sung’s actions,
US President Trump weighed into the state of America’s semiconductor manufacturing when he declared, “They [Taiwan] stole it from us. They took it from us, and I don’t blame them. I give them credit.” At a prior White House event President Trump hosted TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家), head of the world’s largest and most advanced chip manufacturer, to announce a commitment to invest US$100 billion in America. The president then shifted his previously critical rhetoric on Taiwan and put off tariffs on its chips. Now we learn that the Trump Administration is conducting a “trade investigation” on semiconductors which
By now, most of Taiwan has heard Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an’s (蔣萬安) threats to initiate a vote of no confidence against the Cabinet. His rationale is that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-led government’s investigation into alleged signature forgery in the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) recall campaign constitutes “political persecution.” I sincerely hope he goes through with it. The opposition currently holds a majority in the Legislative Yuan, so the initiation of a no-confidence motion and its passage should be entirely within reach. If Chiang truly believes that the government is overreaching, abusing its power and targeting political opponents — then
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