The Chinese Taipei Olympics Committee (CTOC) should ensure that the freedom of speech of Taiwanese athletes is protected when they compete at the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Beijing this year, Amnesty International Taiwan yesterday told a news conference outside the Sports Administration building in Taipei.
The Winter Olympics are to take place from Friday next week to Feb. 20, while the Winter Paralympic Games are to be held from March 4 to 13.
Four Taiwanese athletes are to compete in the Winter Olympics: Huang Yu-ting (黃郁婷) in the 500m, 1,000m and 1,500m speed skating; Lin Sin-rong (林欣蓉) in the luge women’s single; and Ho Ping-jui (何秉睿) in the men’s and Lee Wen-yi (李玟儀) in the women’s slalom.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
At the end of last month, Amnesty International launched a global initiative to support six people — Taiwanese campaigner Lee Ming-che (李明哲) and five Chinese dissidents — who have been imprisoned, detained or gone missing for exercising their freedom of speech in China, it said.
Although the Chinese government had promised to improve its human rights record when it held the 2008 Beijing Olympics and Paralympics, conditions in the country are worse than in 2008, the organization said.
“China uses the Olympic Games to improve its image and whitewash its terrible human rights record,” Amnesty International Taiwan director Chiu E-ling (邱伊翎) said.
Members of Amnesty Taiwan also submitted a written petition, which CTOC deputy secretary-general Wu Kuo-yu (吳國譽) accepted on behalf of the committee.
In the petition, the group urged the CTOC to protect the freedom of speech of Taiwanese athletes while competing at the Games.
Athletes must also be informed about China’s human rights record, it said.
All athletes in the Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games should be protected by the International Bill of Human Rights and Olympic Charter, it added.
Separately, 31 civic groups and 15 politicians yesterday urged the government to organize a diplomatic boycott of the Winter and Paralympic Games in Beijing because of its human rights violations.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Fan Yun (范雲) told a news conference outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei that Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai (彭帥) was silenced and her movements restricted after telling the public that she was sexually assaulted by a high-ranking Chinese official.
“The purpose of the Olympic Games is to maintain peace and uphold human dignity, and a regime that has been violating human rights is not qualified to host the Olympics,” she said.
Taiwan has no reason to endorse the Winter Olympics, as Beijing has been persecuting activists in China and last year sent more than 900 military jets to encroach on Taiwan’s airspace, New Power Party Legislator Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智) said.
The Sports Administrations said in a statement that the CTOC is in charge of organizing the delegation for the Winter Olympics and taking care of athletes while they are competing in Beijing.
No government official is to form part of Taiwan’s Olympic delegation, it said.
“We are still evaluating if Taiwan’s delegation should participate in the opening and closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics and will make further announcements,” it said, adding that it would take into account Beijing’s disease prevention measures and other factors.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday said it is closely monitoring developments in Venezuela, and would continue to cooperate with democratic allies and work together for regional and global security, stability, and prosperity. The remarks came after the US on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who was later flown to New York along with his wife. The pair face US charges related to drug trafficking and alleged cooperation with gangs designated as terrorist organizations. Maduro has denied the allegations. The ministry said that it is closely monitoring the political and economic situation
UNRELENTING: China attempted cyberattacks on Taiwan’s critical infrastructure 2.63 million times per day last year, up from 1.23 million in 2023, the NSB said China’s cyberarmy has long engaged in cyberattacks against Taiwan’s critical infrastructure, employing diverse and evolving tactics, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday, adding that cyberattacks on critical energy infrastructure last year increased 10-fold compared with the previous year. The NSB yesterday released a report titled Analysis on China’s Cyber Threats to Taiwan’s Critical Infrastructure in 2025, outlining the number of cyberattacks, major tactics and hacker groups. Taiwan’s national intelligence community identified a large number of cybersecurity incidents last year, the bureau said in a statement. China’s cyberarmy last year launched an average of 2.63 million intrusion attempts per day targeting Taiwan’s critical
‘SLICING METHOD’: In the event of a blockade, the China Coast Guard would intercept Taiwanese ships while its navy would seek to deter foreign intervention China’s military drills around Taiwan this week signaled potential strategies to cut the nation off from energy supplies and foreign military assistance, a US think tank report said. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted what it called “Justice Mission 2025” exercises from Monday to Tuesday in five maritime zones and airspace around Taiwan, calling them a warning to “Taiwanese independence” forces. In a report released on Wednesday, the Institute for the Study of War said the exercises effectively simulated blocking shipping routes to major port cities, including Kaohsiung, Keelung and Hualien. Taiwan would be highly vulnerable under such a blockade, because it
UNDER WAY: The contract for advanced sensor systems would be fulfilled in Florida, and is expected to be completed by June 2031, the Pentagon said Lockheed Martin has been given a contract involving foreign military sales to Taiwan to meet what Washington calls “an urgent operational need” of Taiwan’s air force, the Pentagon said on Wednesday. The contract has a ceiling value of US$328.5 million, with US$157.3 million in foreign military sales funds obligated at the time of award, the Pentagon said in a statement. “This contract provides for the procurement and delivery of 55 Infrared Search and Track Legion Enhanced Sensor Pods, processors, pod containers and processor containers required to meet the urgent operational need of the Taiwan air force,” it said. The contract’s work would be
RSS