The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday released a strongly worded statement condemning the use of force against participants of the “Jasmine Revolution” in China.
Chinese authorities have cracked down hard on the sporadic protests, inspired by the protest movement sweeping much of North Africa and parts of the Middle East, rounding up dozens of activists and human rights lawyers last month amid calls for protests in as many as 18 major Chinese cities.
The DPP’s statement came one day after Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) said Beijing should embrace democratic reform.
In the DPP statement, the party said Taipei should use the government’s promotion of cross-strait ties to incorporate values of democracy and human rights into agreements with Beijing to encourage “China’s democratic transformation.”
“We ask that the government support the Chinese pro--democracy activists with -substantive -measures. It would show Taiwan’s firm resolve to uphold the values of democracy, freedom and human rights,” the statement read.
These ideals are “universal values and should not be taken lightly,” it said.
“China has signed the two international human rights covenants … but continues to make these violations of human rights and impose restrictions on speech,” it added.
Beijing has signed, but not ratified, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
Taiwanese government officials, including Wu, on Tuesday spoke in favor of political reform for China, but have stopped short of criticizing Beijing’s crackdown on protesters and the media.
Wu told the legislature that despite China’s economic rise, “it still had much room for improvement in aspects of freedom, human rights, democracy and judicial [independence],” adding that China should meet the protests “more positively.”
The DPP statement followed earlier remarks by DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Feb. 21, who called on Taiwan to give more attention to the “Jasmine Revolution” in China, calling democracy a “safety net” for Taiwan in its dealings with Beijing.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
The eastern extension of the Taipei MRT Red Line could begin operations as early as late June, the Taipei Department of Rapid Transit Systems said yesterday. Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said it is considering offering one month of free rides on the new section to mark its opening. Construction progress on the 1.4km extension, which is to run from the current terminal Xiangshan Station to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, was 90.6 percent complete by the end of last month, the department said in a report to the Taipei City Council's Transportation Committee. While construction began in October 2016 with an
NON-RED SUPPLY: Boosting the nation’s drone industry is becoming increasingly urgent as China’s UAV dominance could become an issue in a crisis, an analyst said Taiwan’s drone exports to Europe grew 41.7-fold from 2024 to last year, with demand from Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression the most likely driver of growth, a study showed. The Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET) in a statement on Wednesday said it found that many of Taiwan’s uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) sales were from Poland and the Czech Republic. These countries likely transferred the drones to Ukraine to aid it in its fight against the Russian invasion that started in 2022, it said. Despite the gains, Taiwan is not the dominant drone exporter to these markets, ranking second and fourth
RSS