Given the complex and close ties between Taiwan and China, the Taiwanese public and President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) have a heavy mandate to defend democratic movements in China and urge the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to immediately release prominent dissident writer Liu Xiaobo (劉曉波), a group of human rights advocates said in Taipei yesterday.
Liu was the lead drafter of “Charter 08,” a document initiated by more than 300 Chinese academics, social activists, lawyers, writers and others calling for substantial legal reforms within the Chinese government as friction increases between ordinary citizens and the authorities.
Even prior to the release of the document on Dec. 10, some signatories of the manifesto were harassed by the Chinese police with unwarranted searches, detentions, close surveillance and arrests. Liu has been held incommunicado since his arrest two weeks ago.
The Wall Street Journal reported that more than 5,000 people have added their names to the manifesto since the document was released.
“The demands of the manifesto are not extreme. They are basic human rights that should be enjoyed by all people in the world. The Charter 08 movement is both reasonable and peaceful,” said Huang Mo (黃默), a Soochow University professor, at Liberty Square yesterday.
The advocates demanded that Beijing respond to the manifesto and urged Ma to stand up to Beijing.
“During the Tibetan uprising prior to the Olympics, Ma stood in this place and called for a boycott of the games if the CCP continued to suppress the Tibetans. Now he has become the president, he does not dare say anything [against Beijing] and in fact, has refused to let the Dalai Lama visit Taiwan,” said Yang Chang-cheng (楊長鎮), executive director of the Deng Liberty Foundation.
Cai Lujun (蔡陸軍), a Chinese dissident who was smuggled into Taiwan three years ago, warned Ma that “kneeling subservience will not win you dignity or equality” when dealing with the Chinese totalitarian regime.
The US government issued a statement on Thursday last week calling on Beijing “to release Liu and cease harassment of all Chinese citizens who peacefully express their desire for internationally recognized fundamental freedoms.”
A similar refrain was made by the EU on Wednesday when it called on the Chinese authorities to reveal the reason for Liu’s arrest and the conditions of his detention.
“It also calls for Mr Liu’s fundamental rights and those of the other people arrested in the last few days to be respected and for the principle of freedom of expression to be observed in China in all circumstances,” the statement said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS