Dozens of non-governmental organizations (NGO) yesterday called on the Chinese government to free jailed Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo (劉曉波), praising the political dissident for his non-violent struggle for human rights and democracy in China.
The remarks came one day after President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) publicly urged Beijing to release Liu and “solve major human rights incidents with honesty and confidence.”
Chinese dissidents should be treated with more tolerance, the Presidential Office said in a statement.
The former literature professor was given the award on Friday after the Nobel committee lauded the dissident for his “long and non--violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China.”
In a joint statement, the groups wrote that the award sent a clear signal to Beijing that the “world stands in solidarity with [the] Chinese people who share Liu’s vision for a strong, prosperous and above all, democratic, China.”
Any future cross-strait exchanges, the group wrote, should abide by democratic principles and include mention of human rights and personal liberties.
Among the 48 NGOs that signed the two-page statement were groups representing lawyers, educators and doctors, as well as government watchdogs, human rights associations and an organization that monitors cross-strait exchanges.
The statement said they “shared the very same common and fundamental values [Liu] fights for.”
“Political change starts with fundamental human rights like freedom of speech,” said Lee Tien-tsai (李天財), an attorney working with the Chinese Association for Human Rights.
Taipei, he said, must play a bigger role in helping accelerate the democratic movement in China.
Pointing to recent comments by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶) that the need for democracy and freedom in China was “irresistible,” Taiwan Labor Front director Chang Feng-yi (張峰益) said there was optimism that Beijing could carry out political reforms.
In a rare interview aired on CNN last Sunday, Wen talked about his belief that freedom of speech was “indispensable,” adding he would “advance political restructuring within the realm of my capabilities.”
He said there was freedom to criticize the Chinese government on the Internet.
“His comments were in the right direction, but the first step to the [necessary] reforms begins with releasing Liu,” Chang said.
Liu Chin-wen (劉敬文), a representative for Society Reform Frontline, said he wanted to thank the Nobel committee for making a decision to award the Chinese dissident. Beijing had warned that the move could hurt China-Norway relations.
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 8:31am today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was located in Hualien County, about 70.3 kilometers south southwest of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 23.2km, according to the administration. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County, where it measured 3 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 2 in Hualien and Nantou counties, the CWA said.
The Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) yesterday announced a fundraising campaign to support survivors of the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck Myanmar on March 28, with two prayer events scheduled in Taipei and Taichung later this week. “While initial rescue operations have concluded [in Myanmar], many survivors are now facing increasingly difficult living conditions,” OCAC Minister Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) told a news conference in Taipei. The fundraising campaign, which runs through May 31, is focused on supporting the reconstruction of damaged overseas compatriot schools, assisting students from Myanmar in Taiwan, and providing essential items, such as drinking water, food and medical supplies,
New Party Deputy Secretary-General You Chih-pin (游智彬) this morning went to the National Immigration Agency (NIA) to “turn himself in” after being notified that he had failed to provide proof of having renounced his Chinese household registration. He was one of more than 10,000 naturalized Taiwanese citizens from China who were informed by the NIA that their Taiwanese citizenship might be revoked if they fail to provide the proof in three months, people familiar with the matter said. You said he has proof that he had renounced his Chinese household registration and demanded the NIA provide proof that he still had Chinese
RSS