Taiwanese-Americans will join other protest groups for a demonstration outside the White House next week when Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping (習近平) arrives in Washington. The groups — including Uighurs and Tibetans — will gather in Lafayette Square and are almost certain to be seen by Xi and his entourage.
Xi, expected to be China’s next president and chair of the National People’s Congress, will meet with US President Barack Obama on Tuesday for wide-ranging talks that could lay the foundation for future US-China relations.
The joint protest is to express “deep concern” about Chinese repression against Tibet and East Turkestan and about China’s continuing refusal to renounce the use of force against Taiwan.
Formosan Association for Public Affairs president Mark Kao (高龍榮) has written to Obama, appealing for him to “reaffirm America’s support for freedom, democracy and human rights in Taiwan.”
He says in the letter: “We understand that the US needs to engage China. However, such engagement should not come at the expense of America’s core values. We ask that you remind Mr Xi that it is a core interest of the US that the future of Taiwan be resolved peacefully and with the express consent of the people of Taiwan. We ask that you impress upon Mr Xi that China dismantle its 1,600 missiles targeted at Taiwan and renounce the use of force against Taiwan.”
Kao added that it was essential that China end Taiwan’s international political isolation.
“Taiwan deserves an equal place in the international family of nations, and its people should be fully represented in international organizations such as the United Nations, the World Health Organization and others,” he said.
Taiwanese were praised for their composure after a video filmed by Taiwanese tourists capturing the moment a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck Japan’s Aomori Prefecture went viral on social media. The video shows a hotel room shaking violently amid Monday’s quake, with objects falling to the ground. Two Taiwanese began filming with their mobile phones, while two others held the sides of a TV to prevent it from falling. When the shaking stopped, the pair calmly took down the TV and laid it flat on a tatami mat, the video shows. The video also captured the group talking about the safety of their companions bathing
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