Taiwan yesterday condemned China over the jailing of 45 Hong Kong activists, saying “democracy is not a crime.”
The government “strongly condemned the Chinese government’s use of judicial measures and unfair procedures to suppress the political participation and freedom of speech of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy activists,” Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said in a statement.
International condemnation of the jailings has been swift, with the US, Australia and rights groups slamming the sentencing as evidence of the erosion of political freedoms in the territory since Beijing imposed a national security law in 2020.
Photo: I-Hwa Cheng, AFP
Yesterday’s sentencing “not only breaks the promises of ‘50 years unchanged’ and a ‘high degree of autonomy,’ but also further proves the unworkability of ‘one country, two systems,’” Kuo said, referencing the 50-year transitionary governance model after the handover from the UK in 1997.
“The people of Taiwan and Hong Kong share a common pursuit of freedom and democracy,” she said.
The Mainland Affairs Council urged the Hong Kong government to protect its citizens’ rights, cease political oppression and release detained democracy supporters.
Multiple incidents over the past few years have dealt a blow to Hong Kong’s international ratings on democracy and human rights, the council said.
The Hong Kong government should protect its people’s rights, freedom of speech and the right to an unbiased judiciary process, it said.
The Democratic Progressive Party also condemned the rulings, saying that the full-on persecution of Hong Kong’s democracy supporters highlights the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) authoritarian nature.
The forced passage of Article 23 of Hong Kong’s Basic Law and the National Security Law has destroyed Hong Kong’s democracy and human rights, and exposed the sham of “one country, two systems,” it added.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) said it continues to support democracy and freedom, adding that the ruling was inconducive to rallying Hong Kongers’ support for the CCP government.
Nonviolent methods of expressing opinions are a norm of democratic society and should be a fundamental right of the people, the KMT said.
The Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) said it adamantly opposes such repressive authoritarianism and urged the CCP to answer international concerns regarding its conduct.
The TPP caucus in May urged the Mainland Affairs Council to flesh out ways for Hong Kongers to seek political asylum or pursue business immigration, it said, calling on the administration to support Hong Kong.
Hong Kong Outlanders, a Hong Kong support group in Taiwan, panned the ruling as illogical and symbolized the death of the concepts of the rule of law and an independent judiciary in Hong Kong.
The group urged the Taiwanese government to continue to support Hong Kong protesters and provide them with channels to conditionally seek asylum.
It also called on the Taiwanese government to promote and guarantee Hong Kongers’ basic rights in Taiwan, providing them a haven from cross-border threats from the CCP.
Additional reporting by Chen Yun, Lin Hsin-han and Lin Che-yuan
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
‘DETERRENT’: US national security adviser-designate Mike Waltz said that he wants to speed up deliveries of weapons purchased by Taiwan to deter threats from China US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, affirmed his commitment to peace in the Taiwan Strait during his confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday. Hegseth called China “the most comprehensive and serious challenge to US national security” and said that he would aim to limit Beijing’s expansion in the Indo-Pacific region, Voice of America reported. He would also adhere to long-standing policies to prevent miscalculations, Hegseth added. The US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing was the first for a nominee of Trump’s incoming Cabinet, and questions mostly focused on whether he was fit for the
IDENTITY: Compared with other platforms, TikTok’s algorithm pushes a ‘disproportionately high ratio’ of pro-China content, a study has found Young Taiwanese are increasingly consuming Chinese content on TikTok, which is changing their views on identity and making them less resistant toward China, researchers and politicians were cited as saying by foreign media. Asked to suggest the best survival strategy for a small country facing a powerful neighbor, students at National Chia-Yi Girls’ Senior High School said “Taiwan must do everything to avoid provoking China into attacking it,” the Financial Times wrote on Friday. Young Taiwanese between the ages of 20 and 24 in the past were the group who most strongly espoused a Taiwanese identity, but that is no longer
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake and several aftershocks battered southern Taiwan early this morning, causing houses and roads to collapse and leaving dozens injured and 50 people isolated in their village. A total of 26 people were reported injured and sent to hospitals due to the earthquake as of late this morning, according to the latest Ministry of Health and Welfare figures. In Sising Village (西興) of Chiayi County's Dapu Township (大埔), the location of the quake's epicenter, severe damage was seen and roads entering the village were blocked, isolating about 50 villagers. Another eight people who were originally trapped inside buildings in Tainan
RSS