Cabinet Spokesman Shieh Jhy-wey (
It was regrettable and unacceptable for Hong Kong to treat Taiwanese with valid entry permits in such a way, he said.
Over the past week, hundreds of Taiwanese Falun Gong followers had planned to go to Hong Kong to participate in a demonstration held by the territory's democracy activists and launch protests against China's suppression of Falun Gong followers on the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the end of British rule in Hong Kong.
As of yesterday, about 300 Falun Gong followers who held legal travel documents had been expelled by Hong Kong airport police after their arrival in the territory.
The government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has set the worst example of China's "one country, two systems," said Shieh, referring to China's promise that Hong Kong would enjoy a high degree of autonomy after its takeover.
China is a country under a one-party-state dictatorship and it knows nothing about freedom of religion, freedom of assembly and free speech, Shieh said.
"Although it is named People's Republic of China, it is actually distant from the people," he said.
He also said that the incident should serve as a warning to those people who believe that each side of the Taiwan Strait can have its own interpretation of the "one China" principle and to people who support Taiwan's eventual unification with China.
"It should also make us cherish our freedom and democracy and defend our hard-earned values," Shieh said.
In other developments, Mainland Affairs Council Vice Chairman Tung Chen-yuan (
"These people were brutally detained, questioned and expelled by Hong Kong authorities," Tung said.
"Taiwan has to issue the severest condemnation against such human rights violations by the Hong Kong authorities," he said.
The former British colony has suffered noticeable setbacks on economic and social fronts as well, he said.
The wealth gap in Hong Kong has grown since 1997, while social mobility has declined, Tung said.
At the same time, Hong Kong's judicial independence, human rights conditions and media freedom have also been impacted, he said.
A Chinese freighter that allegedly snapped an undersea cable linking Taiwan proper to Penghu County is suspected of being owned by a Chinese state-run company and had docked at the ports of Kaohsiung and Keelung for three months using different names. On Tuesday last week, the Togo-flagged freighter Hong Tai 58 (宏泰58號) and its Chinese crew were detained after the Taipei-Penghu No. 3 submarine cable was severed. When the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) first attempted to detain the ship on grounds of possible sabotage, its crew said the ship’s name was Hong Tai 168, although the Automatic Identification System (AIS)
An Akizuki-class destroyer last month made the first-ever solo transit of a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ship through the Taiwan Strait, Japanese government officials with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. The JS Akizuki carried out a north-to-south transit through the Taiwan Strait on Feb. 5 as it sailed to the South China Sea to participate in a joint exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces that day. The Japanese destroyer JS Sazanami in September last year made the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s first-ever transit through the Taiwan Strait, but it was joined by vessels from New Zealand and Australia,
CHANGE OF MIND: The Chinese crew at first showed a willingness to cooperate, but later regretted that when the ship arrived at the port and refused to enter Togolese Republic-registered Chinese freighter Hong Tai (宏泰號) and its crew have been detained on suspicion of deliberately damaging a submarine cable connecting Taiwan proper and Penghu County, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement yesterday. The case would be subject to a “national security-level investigation” by the Tainan District Prosecutors’ Office, it added. The administration said that it had been monitoring the ship since 7:10pm on Saturday when it appeared to be loitering in waters about 6 nautical miles (11km) northwest of Tainan’s Chiang Chun Fishing Port, adding that the ship’s location was about 0.5 nautical miles north of the No.
SECURITY: The purpose for giving Hong Kong and Macau residents more lenient paths to permanent residency no longer applies due to China’s policies, a source said The government is considering removing an optional path to citizenship for residents from Hong Kong and Macau, and lengthening the terms for permanent residence eligibility, a source said yesterday. In a bid to prevent the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from infiltrating Taiwan through immigration from Hong Kong and Macau, the government could amend immigration laws for residents of the territories who currently receive preferential treatment, an official familiar with the matter speaking on condition of anonymity said. The move was part of “national security-related legislative reform,” they added. Under the amendments, arrivals from the Chinese territories would have to reside in Taiwan for
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