Falun Gong practitioner Shao Yuhua (邵玉華) — who came to Taiwan 11 years ago after marrying a Taiwanese man and now holds Republic of China (ROC) citizenship — and her daughter were allegedly arrested by state security agents in China, members of the Taiwan Falun Dafa Association said yesterday.
“My wife went back to her hometown in Nanyang, Henan Province, with our 10-year-old daughter to visit her family last month soon after the summer vacation started,” Shao’s husband, Cheng Shu-ta (鄭書達), told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. “Her family in Henan told me yesterday [Friday] that she — along with our daughter — were arrested by state security agents.”
Cheng said his wife had been staying with her sister Shao Yuxiu (邵玉秀), who is also a Falun Gong practitioner, during her visit to China.
At about 6am on Friday, a few men who identified themselves as agents from the Ministry of State Security showed up at the door and took away Shao Yuhua and her daughter, Cheng said. The men also took Shao Yuhua’s cellphone, baggage and passport, he said.
“So far, we’re still not clear where she is,” he said.
Although it was not clear why Shao Yuhua was taken away, Taiwan Falun Dafa Association chairman Chang Ching-hsi (張清溪) suspected it had to do with her being a Falun Gong practitioner.
“We urge [China] to release the two kidnapped ROC citizens and their families and relatives in China immediately. We want promises that no such human rights violations will be committed again,” Chang said.
“As an immigrant spouse from China, Shao Yuhua is supposed to be protected by governments on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, but she is now missing because of her spiritual beliefs,” he said.
“How can the people of Taiwan believe there can be friendly exchanges between China and Taiwan?” he asked.
Chang called on the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) and the Strait Exchange Foundation (SEF) to intervene.
After the news conference, Chang and several other Falun Gong practitioners went to the Landis Hotel where China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Yang Yi (楊毅) was scheduled to attend a dinner reception hosted by Taiwanese business leaders, hoping to deliver their petition to Yang.
However, Yang ignored the practitioners and walked straight into an elevator.
Contacted by the Taipei Times for comment, MAC vice-chairman Liu Te-shun (劉德勳) said that as soon as the MAC learned the news from the media, it “asked the SEF to get in touch with the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait to see how we can help.”
NOTE: In the article above, we reported that Falun Gong practitioner Shao Yuhua's daughter was detained and that her sister is also a Falun Gong follower. Shao's daughter was not detained. Her sister does not practice Falun Gong and was detained briefly by Chinese police and released. Only Shao remains in detention. The Taipei Times regrets the error.
AIR DEFENSE: The Norwegian missile system has proved highly effective in Ukraine in its war against Russia, and the US has recommended it for Taiwan, an expert said The Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) Taiwan ordered from the US would be installed in strategically important positions in Taipei and New Taipei City to guard the region, the Ministry of National Defense said in statement yesterday. The air defense system would be deployed in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) and New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水), the ministry said, adding that the systems could be delivered as soon as the end of this year. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency has previously said that three NASAMS would be sold to Taiwan. The weapons are part of the 17th US arms sale to
SERIOUS ALLEGATIONS: The suspects formed spy networks and paramilitary groups to kill government officials during a possible Chinese invasion, prosecutors said Prosecutors have indicted seven retired military officers, members of the Rehabilitation Alliance Party, for allegedly obtaining funds from China, and forming paramilitary groups and assassination squads in Taiwan to collaborate with Chinese troops in a possible war. The suspects contravened the National Security Act (國家安全法) by taking photos and drawing maps of key radar stations, missile installations and the American Institute in Taiwan’s headquarters in Taipei, prosecutors said. They allegedly prepared to collaborate with China during a possible invasion of Taiwan, prosecutors said. Retired military officer Chu Hung-i (屈宏義), 62, a Republic of China Army Academy graduate, went to China
INSURRECTION: The NSB said it found evidence the CCP was seeking snipers in Taiwan to target members of the military and foreign organizations in the event of an invasion The number of Chinese spies prosecuted in Taiwan has grown threefold over a four-year period, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said in a report released yesterday. In 2021 and 2022, 16 and 10 spies were prosecuted respectively, but that number grew to 64 last year, it said, adding that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was working with gangs in Taiwan to develop a network of armed spies. Spies in Taiwan have on behalf of the CCP used a variety of channels and methods to infiltrate all sectors of the country, and recruited Taiwanese to cooperate in developing organizations and obtaining sensitive information
BREAKTHROUGH: The US is making chips on par in yield and quality with Taiwan, despite people saying that it could not happen, the official said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has begun producing advanced 4-nanometer (nm) chips for US customers in Arizona, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said, a milestone in the semiconductor efforts of the administration of US President Joe Biden. In November last year, the commerce department finalized a US$6.6 billion grant to TSMC’s US unit for semiconductor production in Phoenix, Arizona. “For the first time ever in our country’s history, we are making leading edge 4-nanometer chips on American soil, American workers — on par in yield and quality with Taiwan,” Raimondo said, adding that production had begun in recent
RSS