The Kaohsiung City Council recently passed a motion demanding that the city government and private organizations not be allowed to invite to the city Chinese officials who have been accused of violating human rights. The motion included making the same suggestion to the central government, asking it to refuse such officials entry to Taiwan.
With Chinese officials increasingly leading delegations to Taiwan, Kaohsiung City Councilor Kang Yu-cheng (康裕成) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) suggested that Chinese officials who have violated human rights should be refused entry to the country.
The motion was supported by councilors from both the pan-blue and pan-green camps last week and it has now been submitted to the Mainland Affairs Council, the National Immigration Agency and the Kaohsiung City Government.
Kang said that because Guangdong Province Governor Huang Huahua (黃華華), Shaanxi Province Vice Governor and Acting Governor Zhao Zhengyong (趙正永), State Administration of Religious Affairs Director Wang Zuoan (王作安) and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Deputy Secretary of Hubei Province Yang Song (楊松) all have allegedly participated in China’s persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, Falun Gong practitioners in Taiwan had filed a criminal lawsuit with the Taiwan High Court Prosecutors’ Office against them when they visited Taiwan.
The central government should investigate the human rights record of these Chinese officials when checking their applications to enter Taiwan, Kang said.
Adding that Kaohsiung City is a modern metropolis that protects human rights, Kang said both the city and private organizations should therefore highlight the universality of human rights. If it is discovered that Chinese officials planning to visit Kaohsiung have a track record of violating human rights or if they have been charged and are being tried in court, such officials should not be invited, welcomed or given any support, she said.
While Falun Gong practitioners are suffering heavy persecution by the CCP, the motion is not aimed at pleasing the Falun Gong; no one who is guilty of persecuting anyone else should be welcomed to Kaohsiung, she said.
“I am very excited over the fact that the motion was unanimously passed by both the pan-green and pan-blue camps,” Kang added.
DPP Kaohsiung City Councilor Chou Lin-wen (周玲玟) said that while China was important to the global economy, it ignores human rights and democracy.
“Kaohsiung is a friendly city but many people don’t know very much about CCP persecution and that is why it is necessary to ask the central government to control these issues,” she said.
Expressing a wish that every tourist area in Taiwan reveal the truth to Chinese tourists, she added: “Only by traveling to Taiwan will they be able to see the persecution that underlies the Chinese economy.”
Falun Dafa in Taiwan welcomed the motion and called on each level of government to take a close look at the issue.
Cheng Chi-mei (鄭其美), a representative of the movement, said it was shameful to see Chinese officials coming to Taiwan shaking hands with Taiwanese and receiving expensive gifts with blood on their hands.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College