Chinese dissident Wang Dan (王丹), one of the student leaders at the 1989 Tiananmen Square protest, who is now teaching in Taiwan, entered Hong Kong yesterday while on his way from the US.
Radio Television Hong Kong reported that Wang, who was exiled from China after the protests, had been delayed at Hong Kong’s airport early in the morning because his flight to Taiwan was suspended because of Typhoon Saola.
“It’s magic to step onto Hong Kong soil,” Wang said in a Facebook post.
In an interview on Hong Kong Radio, Wang said he did not intend to enter Hong Kong, but described the situation as “symbolically significant.” He said he would not “seek to sneak in” to Hong Kong, but believes that “one day” he will be allowed to visit.
In January last year, Wang tried to obtain permission to visit Hong Kong for the funeral of veteran democracy activist Szeto Wah (司徒華), a politician affiliated with the pan-democracy camp in Hong Kong who had helped many dissidents flee China after the 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protests in Beijing, which saw hundreds, if not thousands, killed.
At the time, Wang had pledged to attend Wah’s memorial in a personal capacity and said he had no political motive. However, his request was denied with no reason given by the Hong Kong authorities.
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
Prosecutors today declined to say who was questioned regarding alleged forgery on petitions to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, after Chinese-language media earlier reported that members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Youth League were brought in for questioning. The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau confirmed that two people had been questioned, but did not disclose any further information about the ongoing investigation. KMT Youth League members Lee Hsiao-liang (李孝亮) and Liu Szu-yin (劉思吟) — who are leading the effort to recall DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) and Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) — both posted on Facebook saying: “I
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 today amid outcry over his decision to wear a Nazi armband to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case last night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and covering the book with his coat. Lee said today that this is a serious
A mountain blaze that broke out yesterday morning in Yangmingshan National Park was put out after five hours, following multi agency efforts involving dozens of fire trucks and helicopter water drops. The fire might have been sparked by an air quality sensor operated by the National Center for High-Performance Computing, one of the national-level laboratories under the National Applied Research Laboratories, Yangmingshan National Park Headquarters said. The Taipei City Fire Department said the fire, which broke out at about 11am yesterday near the mountainous Xiaoyoukeng (小油坑) Recreation Area was extinguished at 4:32pm. It had initially dispatched 72 personnel in four command vehicles, 16