The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday denied allegations that it attempted to intervene in Cambodian politics, after a Cambodian news outlet reported that a “Taiwanese extremist group” allegedly affiliated with the DPP was plotting with local political operatives to topple the government.
A report published on Aug. 31 by Fresh News, a pro-government English-language online media outlet, said that a “Taiwanese extremist group [was] holding [a] secret meeting with Cambodian National Rescue Party leaders [CNRP] to topple the government.”
The meeting was “planned to overthrow the government through color revolution in order to form a new government, commanded by the US, to strategically serve US geopolitical interests in Asia,” it said.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
The report, citing Facebook, did not specify the nature of the “extremist group,” but based its allegations on undated photographs of a CNRP official attending a pre-election DPP rally in Taiwan ahead of last year’s elections.
The report was circulated in Chinese and English-language media outlets in Cambodia.
Several English-language media, including the Phnom Penh Post, described the allegations as outlandish and unsubstantiated, while local Taiwanese businesses ran front-page advertisements in Chinese-language newspapers for three days disputing the charges.
CNRP leader Kem Sokha was arrested in Phnom Penh on Sept. 3 and accused of treason as the Cambodian government stepped up its crackdown on dissent.
The report began circulating in Taiwanese media yesterday, with the DPP rejecting the allegation, saying it did not and would not intervene in the politics of other countries.
“DPP Secretary-General Hung Yao-fu (洪耀福) sent a letter to the Taiwan Commercial Association In Cambodia, saying the party has ‘no intention of intervening with the political situations in other countries,’” DPP spokesman Wang Min-sheng (王閔生) said.
“We respect international norms. Therefore, we will not comment or intervene in any of Cambodia’s domestic politics,” the letter said.
The DPP has asked the association to calm Taiwanese investors and businesses, and asked its members to refrain from engaging in political issues when visiting Cambodia, Wang said.
“The Cambodian government understands that the DPP would not intervene in its politics and therefore the incident has come to a peaceful conclusion,” Wang said.
Overseas Community Affairs Council Minister Wu Hsin-hsing (吳新興) said that some photographs were taken more than three years ago during a trip by DPP lawmakers to Cambodia.
Wu said the photographs were published again in a recent report ahead of next year’s national elections in Cambodia to influence election results.
Taiwan urges the Cambodian government to “cherish” the contributions of Taiwanese businesses to Cambodia’s economic development, Ministry of Foreign Affairs deputy spokesman Andrew Lee (李憲章) said.
Cambodian authorities should also protect Taiwanese businesses’ rights in accordance with local laws, he said.
SEPARATE: The MAC rebutted Beijing’s claim that Taiwan is China’s province, asserting that UN Resolution 2758 neither mentions Taiwan nor grants the PRC authority over it The “status quo” of democratic Taiwan and autocratic China not belonging to each other has long been recognized by the international community, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday in its rebuttal of Beijing’s claim that Taiwan can only be represented in the UN as “Taiwan, Province of China.” Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) yesterday at a news conference of the third session at the 14th National People’s Congress said that Taiwan can only be referred to as “Taiwan, Province of China” at the UN. Taiwan is an inseparable part of Chinese territory, which is not only history but
CROSSED A LINE: While entertainers working in China have made pro-China statements before, this time it seriously affected the nation’s security and interests, a source said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) late on Saturday night condemned the comments of Taiwanese entertainers who reposted Chinese statements denigrating Taiwan’s sovereignty. The nation’s cross-strait affairs authority issued the statement after several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑), Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜) and Michelle Chen (陳妍希), on Friday and Saturday shared on their respective Sina Weibo (微博) accounts a post by state broadcaster China Central Television. The post showed an image of a map of Taiwan along with the five stars of the Chinese flag, and the message: “Taiwan is never a country. It never was and never will be.” The post followed remarks
NATIONAL SECURITY: The Chinese influencer shared multiple videos on social media in which she claimed Taiwan is a part of China and supported its annexation Freedom of speech does not allow comments by Chinese residents in Taiwan that compromise national security or social stability, the nation’s top officials said yesterday, after the National Immigration Agency (NIA) revoked the residency permit of a Chinese influencer who published videos advocating China annexing Taiwan by force. Taiwan welcomes all foreigners to settle here and make families so long as they “love the land and people of Taiwan,” Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) told lawmakers during a plenary session at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. The public power of the government must be asserted when necessary and the Ministry of
Proposed amendments would forbid the use of all personal electronic devices during school hours in high schools and below, starting from the next school year in August, the Ministry of Education said on Monday. The Regulations on the Use of Mobile Devices at Educational Facilities up to High Schools (高級中等以下學校校園行動載具使用原則) state that mobile devices — defined as mobile phones, laptops, tablets, smartwatches or other wearables — should be turned off at school. The changes would stipulate that use of such devices during class is forbidden, and the devices should be handed to a teacher or the school for safekeeping. The amendments also say
RSS