Eighteen US-based Taiwanese-American organizations issued a joint statement yesterday accusing the government of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of sacrificing Taiwan’s democracy and human rights to cater to China during last week’s visit by Association for Relations Across the Strait Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林).
“In an attempt to kiss up to Beijing, the Ma administration prohibited public display of [Republic of China items] on the streets. It was a dark moment in Taiwan’s democracy,” Central News Agency (CNA) quoted the statement as saying.
Taiwanese Association of America chairman Ron Hsieh (謝榮峻) said that almost all Taiwanese-American organizations felt “extreme sadness, worry and anger” at Ma’s handling of the visit, which he said had caused much social disharmony in Taiwan.
The statement said that to welcome the Chinese Communist Party representative, the Ma administration not only stripped the people of their right to wave their country’s flag, play Taiwanese songs and wear whatever they choose to wear, it also mobilized more than 7,000 police officers to secure the safety of one person.
Barbed wire was erected, people waving Tibetan flags were apprehended and applications to stage a protest were denied — all actions, the statement said, that were undertaken by the Ma administration to “make Chen feel like a revered guest.”
“Taiwan has become a police state as can only exist in a totalitarian regime,” the CNA report quoted the statement as saying, adding that Taiwan’s hard-won democracy and rule of law, realized through blood and tears, were all destroyed in just a few short days.
All Taiwanese, the statement added, must stand in solidarity. The US-based Taiwanese groups promised to urge the mainstream US media, political sector and academics to take notice of Taiwan’s recent regression and to publicly support its democracy in international settings.
The organizations that signed the statement also include the Formosan Association for Public Affairs, the North American Taiwan Professors’ Association, the World Taiwanese Congress and the Taiwan Association for Human Rights.
BAIL APPEALS: The former vice premier was ordered to be held incommunicado despite twice being granted bail and paying a total of NT$12 million in bond The Taoyuan District Court yesterday ordered the detention of former vice premier Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦), who is being investigated for alleged corruption while serving as Taoyuan mayor from December 2014 to December 2022, and that he be held incommunicado. The court made the ruling during a bail hearing after prosecutors appealed its bail ruling twice. Cheng on Saturday was released after posting bail of NT$5 million (US$153,818). However, after prosecutors lodged an appeal, the High Court on Monday revoked the original ruling and ordered the Taoyuan District Court to hold another bail hearing. On Tuesday, the district court granted bail to Cheng a second
The Thai government on Friday announced that Taiwanese would be allowed to stay in the country for up to 60 days per entry, under the Southeast Asian country’s visa-free program starting from today. Taiwan is among 93 countries included in the Thai visa-waiver program, which has been expanded from 57 countries, with the visa-exempt entry extended from 30 to 60 days. After taking office last year, Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has vowed to grant more visa waivers to foreign travelers as part of efforts to stimulate tourism. The expanded visa-waiver program was on Friday signed by Thai Minister of the Interior Anutin
PEACE AND SECURITY: China’s military ambitions present ‘the greatest strategic challenge to Japan and the world, Japan’s annual defense white paper said yesterday Japan yesterday warned that China risked escalating tensions with Taiwan with an increase in military exercises that appeared aimed in part at readying Beijing’s forces for a possible invasion. Japan’s annual assessment of security threats, including those posed by China, North Korea and Russia, comes as Taiwan closely monitors Chinese People’s Liberation Army air and sea exercises, including one with the Shandong aircraft carrier in the Pacific Ocean. The drills are the latest in a series including maneuvers in the Taiwan Strait last year that a senior US general said would be key to any invasion. “Because of that increase in military activity,
HAN KUANG: The exercises, which are to run from July 22 to 26, will feature unscripted war games and a decentralized command and control structure, military officers said The armed forces would for the first time test new rules of engagement (ROE) at this month’s annual Han Kuang exercises, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said yesterday. The exercises, which are to run from July 22 to 26, will feature unscripted war games, and a decentralized command and control structure, military officers told a news conference in Taipei. ROE cards would be issued to select combat troops to test their ability to function without tight control, they said. The most recent edition of the rules was published last year, they said. One of the cards’ two templates identifies enemy targets that soldiers