Civic and student groups yesterday expressed their solidarity with Hong Kongers in Taiwan and vowed to generate more support for the Hong Kong pro-democracy movement in Taiwan.
While unrest in the territory rages on, the Hong Kong government has not responded to five demands put forward by protesters in June, Hong Kong Outlanders spokesman Kuma Yung told a news conference outside National Taiwan University in Taipei.
“The Hong Kong government is trying to stall us now, but we should show the whole world our resolve and persistence. We will never bow down to the Hong Kong government,” Yung said.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
As yesterday was the day the Hong Kong Outlanders had agreed on to restore an underpass in the Gongguan (公館) area just outside the university, in which it had set up a “Lennon wall,” spokeswoman Dora Wu previewed an event, called “Nationwide Lennon,” to pass on the messages people had left on the wall in support of the movement.
National Students’ Union of Taiwan director Chen Yu-wei (陳佑維) said that the union had asked 20 universities nationwide whether they would be willing to join the event to receive parts of the Lennon wall.
The fragments would then be displayed and expanded with messages from students at the universities before schools in the same region pool their messages and present them in public spaces outside their campuses, he said.
Taiwan Youth Association for Democracy president Lin Yen-ting (林彥廷) compared the situation in Hong Kong to the White Terror era in Taiwan, saying that the worries and concerns Taiwanese have shown for the Hong Kong protests are a manifestation of their determination to defend their democracy and freedom.
Although Taipei authorities granted the Hong Kong Outlanders a grace period until Sept. 12 to clear away the wall, volunteers and groups that are to inherit its parts began removing the display yesterday.
Zhong Ru (鍾如), of the National Museum of Taiwan History’s research division, said that the part of the wall inherited by the museum would be featured in its “Oppression and Overcoming: Social Movements in Post-War Taiwan” exhibition.
In related news, Hualien County-based National Dong Hwa University yesterday confirmed that one of its students from Hong Kong was on Thursday arrested in the territory on charges of rioting.
The 20-year-old woman, surnamed Li (李), allegedly participated in a protest in front of the police precinct in the Sham Shui Po area in Kowloon.
The university said in a statement that it has asked the Ministry of Education’s representative in Hong Kong to express its concern over the incident.
The university said that it would continue to monitor the situation and provide any needed assistance.
University dean Chao Han-chieh (趙函捷) said that he was willing to personally post bail for Li’s release, adding that he hoped the incident would be resolved swiftly and Li returned to the university to continue her studies.
Additional report by Wang Chun-chi
‘TAIWAN-FRIENDLY’: The last time the Web site fact sheet removed the lines on the US not supporting Taiwanese independence was during the Biden administration in 2022 The US Department of State has removed a statement on its Web site that it does not support Taiwanese independence, among changes that the Taiwanese government praised yesterday as supporting Taiwan. The Taiwan-US relations fact sheet, produced by the department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, previously stated that the US opposes “any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side; we do not support Taiwan independence; and we expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means.” In the updated version published on Thursday, the line stating that the US does not support Taiwanese independence had been removed. The updated
‘CORRECT IDENTIFICATION’: Beginning in May, Taiwanese married to Japanese can register their home country as Taiwan in their spouse’s family record, ‘Nikkei Asia’ said The government yesterday thanked Japan for revising rules that would allow Taiwanese nationals married to Japanese citizens to list their home country as “Taiwan” in the official family record database. At present, Taiwanese have to select “China.” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the new rule, set to be implemented in May, would now “correctly” identify Taiwanese in Japan and help protect their rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The statement was released after Nikkei Asia reported the new policy earlier yesterday. The name and nationality of a non-Japanese person marrying a Japanese national is added to the
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
RSS