Taiwan has replaced Hong Kong as Asia’s “bastion of free speech,” as it has emerged as “one of Asia’s most vibrant democracies,” the New York Times said in an article published on Saturday.
Headlined “Asia’s Bastion of Free Speech? Move Aside, Hong Kong, It’s Taiwan Now,” reporters Chris Horton and Austin Ramzy wrote that Hong Kong used to be a haven for political fugitives and home to international media and rights groups in the Chinese-speaking world.
“In recent years, however, as Beijing has tightened its grip on the former colony, Hong Kong has been increasingly supplanted by Taiwan,” they wrote, adding that the shift was highlighted by Reporters Without Borders’ (RSF) decision to open its Asian bureau in Taipei.
“Hong Kong was originally the first choice for the Asia bureau,” the article quotes Wuer Kaixi, an emeritus member of the RSF board, and one of the 1989 Tiananmen protest student leaders, who now lives in Taiwan. “But today China doesn’t just suppress its own people, it is now increasingly exporting that suppression to Hong Kong.”
The shift reflects Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) efforts to assert his control over China, including Hong Kong, the article says.
Horton and Ramzy talked to Lam Wing-kei (林榮基), one of the five men connected to a Hong Kong publishing house and bookstore who were abducted by Chinese security personnel in late 2016 and who is planning to reopen his bookshop in Taiwan.
“We Hong Kong people look to Taiwan for lessons,” Lam was quoted as saying. “And people in Taiwan look to see how the Chinese mainland controls Hong Kong.”
RSF Taipei bureau director Cedric Alviani told the newspaper that Taiwan has become an “island of stability” in a region where press freedoms are backsliding.
However, it also said that while Taiwan is relishing its new reputation, there have also been instances of it compromising on its political values to avoid angering Beijing, such as returning a Chinese activist seeking political asylum to China, or, citing Chinese journalist and author Zhao Sile (趙思樂), making it harder for Chinese activists to attend workshops or conferences in Taiwan.
Horton and Ramzy also talked to Yeh Chu-lan (葉菊蘭), the widow of democracy pioneer Deng Nan-jung (鄭南榕), who told them that Taiwan’s freedoms were not guaranteed.
“We could lose our freedom of expression any time in the face of Chinese hegemony,” she told them.
Tropical Storm Gaemi strengthened into a typhoon at 2pm yesterday, and could make landfall in Yilan County tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The agency was scheduled to issue a sea warning at 11:30pm yesterday, and could issue a land warning later today. Gaemi was moving north-northwest at 4kph, carrying maximum sustained winds near its center of up to 118.8kph and gusts of 154.8kph. The circumference is forecast to reach eastern Taiwan tomorrow morning, with the center making landfall in Yilan County later that night before departing from the north coast, CWA weather forecaster Kuan Shin-ping (官欣平) said yesterday. Uncertainty remains and
SEA WARNING LIKELY: The storm, named Gaemi, could become a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, with the Taipei City Government preparing for flooding A tropical depression east of the Philippines developed into a tropical storm named Gaemi at 2pm yesterday, and was moving toward eastern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Gaemi could begin to affect Taiwan proper on Tuesday, lasting until Friday, and could develop into a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, it said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued as early as Tuesday morning, it added. Gaemi, the third tropical storm in the Pacific Ocean this typhoon season, is projected to begin moving northwest today, and be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday, the agency said. Today, there would likely
DISRUPTIONS: The high-speed rail is to operate as normal, while several airlines either canceled flights or announced early departures or late arrivals Schools and offices in 15 cities and counties are to be closed today due to Typhoon Gaemi, local governments announced last night. The 15 are: Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Tainan, Keelung, Hsinchu and Kaohsiung, as well as Yilan, Hualien, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang counties. People should brace for torrential rainfall brought by the storm, with its center forecast to make landfall on the east coast between tonight and tomorrow morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The agency issued a sea warning for the typhoon at 11:30pm on Monday, followed by a land warning at 11:30am yesterday. As of
CASUALTY: A 70-year-old woman was killed by a falling tree in Kaohsiung as the premier warned all government agencies to remain on high alert for the next 24 hours Schools and offices nationwide are to be closed for a second day today as Typhoon Gaemi crosses over the nation, bringing torrential rain and whipping winds. Gaemi was forecast to make landfall late last night. From Tuesday night, its outer band brought substantial rainfall and strong winds to the nation. As of 6:15pm last night, the typhoon’s center was 20km southeast of Hualien County, Central Weather Administration (CWA) data showed. It was moving at 19kph and had a radius of 250km. As of 3pm yesterday, one woman had died, while 58 people were injured, the Central Emergency Operation Center said. The 70-year-old