China has detained dozens of people, some of whom have been severely beaten, for trying to mark the death of former leader Zhao Ziyang (
The allegations came as the government intensified security to prevent mourners attending tomorrow's funeral in Beijing for Zhao, the former Communist Party secretary-general purged for opposing the 1989 military crackdown on the Tiananmen democracy movement.
PHOTO: AFP
At least three people, including a woman in her 70s, were punched and manhandled by police officers outside the government offices which receive complaints in the Chinese capital, witnesses said.
They were among some 60 people who pinned white paper flowers to their clothes -- a traditional Chinese symbol of mourning -- said a bystander, who took pictures of the beatings and posted them on overseas Web sites.
"A man from Henan Province was beaten badly. His left eyeball looked like it was beaten out of its socket and he had a one inch cut to his right eye," said the man who requested anonymity.
"An elderly woman from Shandong Province was beaten to a point where she couldn't move and a man from Hunan Province was also beaten," he said.
Police shouted at the petitioners that Zhao, who spent nearly 16 years under house arrest until his death last week, was a "political criminal," the witness said.
"They said: `Why are you commemorating him? You're clearly opposing the government.' But the petitioners said `We think differently. We think he's a good person,'" the witness said.
Also last week, an estimated 80 to 90 petitioners were rounded up near Zhao's traditional courtyard home in Beijing for trying to get inside to pay respects and express condolences to his family, petitioners said.
"In our petitioners' hostel, all 10 people who went were detained and held from from 9am to 11pm," said Bai Shuhua, one of the 10.
"In the police station they said, `You don't seek leaders who are alive, but insist on seeking dead leaders. How can the dead help you?'" Bai said.
One of the petitioners, Liu Hongbo, was punched twice as he yelled "Zhao didn't do anything wrong," Bai said.
Zhao, premier and head of the Communist Party for much of the 1980s, died on Jan. 17 at the age of 85.
The authorities fear his death and funeral tomorrow will be a rallying point for dissidents, petitioners and people dissatisfied with the government.
Sources said invitations have been issued for the ceremony, following days of wrangling between party officials and relatives over the content of a eulogy to Zhao.
The government confirmed earlier that it would allow a "body farewell ceremony" for Zhao. It was not immediately clear how this would differ from a funeral.
But a government statement departed from the usual Chinese phrase for a funeral, apparently to reflect the lower status it accords to the event compared with the larger scale funerals normally arranged for former Communist Party leaders.
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
‘DETERRENT’: US national security adviser-designate Mike Waltz said that he wants to speed up deliveries of weapons purchased by Taiwan to deter threats from China US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, affirmed his commitment to peace in the Taiwan Strait during his confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday. Hegseth called China “the most comprehensive and serious challenge to US national security” and said that he would aim to limit Beijing’s expansion in the Indo-Pacific region, Voice of America reported. He would also adhere to long-standing policies to prevent miscalculations, Hegseth added. The US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing was the first for a nominee of Trump’s incoming Cabinet, and questions mostly focused on whether he was fit for the
IDENTITY: Compared with other platforms, TikTok’s algorithm pushes a ‘disproportionately high ratio’ of pro-China content, a study has found Young Taiwanese are increasingly consuming Chinese content on TikTok, which is changing their views on identity and making them less resistant toward China, researchers and politicians were cited as saying by foreign media. Asked to suggest the best survival strategy for a small country facing a powerful neighbor, students at National Chia-Yi Girls’ Senior High School said “Taiwan must do everything to avoid provoking China into attacking it,” the Financial Times wrote on Friday. Young Taiwanese between the ages of 20 and 24 in the past were the group who most strongly espoused a Taiwanese identity, but that is no longer
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake and several aftershocks battered southern Taiwan early this morning, causing houses and roads to collapse and leaving dozens injured and 50 people isolated in their village. A total of 26 people were reported injured and sent to hospitals due to the earthquake as of late this morning, according to the latest Ministry of Health and Welfare figures. In Sising Village (西興) of Chiayi County's Dapu Township (大埔), the location of the quake's epicenter, severe damage was seen and roads entering the village were blocked, isolating about 50 villagers. Another eight people who were originally trapped inside buildings in Tainan
RSS