China's ambassador to Ireland is to be asked to appear before an all-party parliamentary committee to discuss claims his country's authorities have been harvesting human organs from prisoners. The committee is also asking Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern to raise the issue with his Chinese counterpart at a meeting of the ongoing EU-China dialogue on human rights.
The moves came after the Oireachtas (Gaelic for parliamentary) Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs heard the findings of a report investigating the possible organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners.
The report alleged that "the Chinese Government has over the past half decade put to death a large but unknown number of Falun Gong prisoners of conscience" and "simultaneously seized their vital organs for sale at high prices."
PHOTO: EPA
The committee had been addressed by former Canadian Secretary of State for the Asia Pacific region David Kilgour who co-wrote the report with David Matas, an international human rights lawyer.
Kilgour told the committee that those responsible for these deeds, including the doctors involved, should face the International Criminal Court as quickly as possible.
"We have a new form of evil in the world," he said. "These practices make crimes against humanity as defined by the Treaty of Rome and the International Criminal Court look more like misdemeanours." A misdemanour is a minor offence.
Committee chairman Dr Michael Woods of Prime Minister Bertie Ahern's Fianna Fail ruling party said Kilgour's report "made for compelling reading" and China should permit an independent investigation. (AFP)
中共駐愛爾蘭大使被要求出席跨黨派國會委員會,討論對於中國官方活體摘取囚犯器官的指控。委員會亦要求愛爾蘭外交部長德莫特.埃亨於中國歐盟人權對話會議上,向中國代表提出此項議題。
國會聯合委員會在聽取有關法輪功學員被活體摘除器官的調查發現後,提出這項要求。
這份報告宣稱「中國政府過去五年來處死大量(實際數字未知)的法輪功學員」並且「摘除他們的重要器官以高價賣出」。
加拿大前亞太司司長大衛?喬高,和共同撰寫此份報告的國際人權律師大衛.麥塔斯已在委員會上發表聲明。
喬高對委員會表示,該對這些行為負責的人,包括醫生在內,應該儘速接受國際刑事法庭的審判。
他表示︰「這世界存在著一種新型態的邪惡,這些行為讓羅馬條約和國際刑事法庭所定義的違反人道罪行相形之下如輕罪一般」。輕罪是指不嚴重的罪行。
委員會主席麥可.伍茲博士隸屬愛爾蘭總理博提.阿亨所領導執政的共和黨,他表示喬高的報告「不容忽視」,中國應准許進行獨立調查。(法新社╱翻譯︰鄭湘儀)
A: After attending Taiwanese baseball superstar Chen Wei-yin’s retirement ceremony in Japan, why didn’t you stay longer for some fun? B: Don’t you remember? We’re going to Blackpink member Jisoo’s fan meeting at Messe Taoyuan this Sunday. A: Oh, that’s right. She’s the second Blackpink member visiting Taiwan as a solo artist after Lisa. B: Jisoo just released her EP “Amortage” on Valentine’s Day. A: Blackpink will also release new songs and launch a world tour this summer. A: 你去日本參加台灣強投陳偉殷的引退儀式後,怎麼沒留下來玩幾天? B: 你忘啦?我們週日還要去「桃園會展中心」參加Blackpink成員Jisoo的見面會。 A: 啊對耶,她是繼Lisa後第二位單飛訪台的Blackpink成員。 B: Jisoo不久前才在情人節,推出個人迷你專輯《Amortage》。 A: Blackpink今年夏天也會推出新歌,還會啟動世界巡演呢! (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張迪)
A: Taiwan’s baseball superstar Chen Wei-yin announced his retirement, and I’m still in shock. B: Didn’t you fly to Japan last Sunday just to attend his retirement ceremony? A: Yeah, it was held by Chen’s former Japanese team, the Chunichi Dragons. I even cried at the event. B: His glorious record of 96 wins in Japanese and US professional baseball altogether is unprecedented. A: His total income of NT$3.3 billion, including a huge 2016 contract of US$80 million with the US Miami Marlins, is also unprecedented. A: 台灣棒球巨星陳偉殷宣布引退,真是令人震驚。 B: 你週日不是特別飛去日本,參加他的引退儀式嗎? A: 對啊老東家「中日龍」為他舉行了儀式,我還感動到大哭。 B: 他創下日/美職棒總計96勝紀錄,真是史無前例。 A: 而他生涯總收入高達33億台幣,包括在2016年時,和「馬林魚」簽下8千萬美元巨約,更是無人能及! (By Eddy
In another application of artificial intelligence, a team of archaeologists from the Nazca Institute at the University of Yamagata in Japan, in collaboration with IBM Research, have discovered 303 new geoglyphs in the “Nazca” region of Peru. Though these figures are not nearly as large as their Nazca Lines counterparts, their discovery has helped enhance the understanding of the transition from the Paracas culture to the Nazca culture. The AI model, assisted by low-flying drones, was able to accomplish what the naked eye could not—quickly and accurately spotting the smaller relief-type geoglyphs in the desert area. While it previously
Dos & Don’ts — 想想看,這句話英語該怎麼說? 1. 王老師很負責,每天都準時到學校。 √ Miss Wang is conscientious. She comes to school on time every day. χ Miss Wang is very responsible. Every day she goes to school on time. 註︰一個人很認真、負責、敬業,英文通常用 conscientious 來表達,它的名詞是conscience(良心)。responsible 接在 be 動詞之後是指對某事負責,也可指做錯事時該負的責任,因此“她該負責”英文是 She is responsible for it.。如果某人很負責、值得信賴,可以託付重任,可說 She / He is a responsible person.。 2. 他個子不高。 √ He is not tall. χ His body is not tall. χ He is not high. 註︰high 通常指「物」的高大,tall 則指「人或細長物」的「高」。但講人的高度,有數字時可以說: He is six feet high. He is six feet tall. 3. 我能占用你幾分鐘嗎? √ Can you spare me a few minutes? χ May I occupy you a few minutes? 註︰spare:騰出,省下。不顧句型及前後文,只把學過的英文詞彙的中文解釋任意還原為英文時很容易造出這種中式的英文句子。 4. 讓我想想看。 √ Let me think it over. √ Let