Taiwan Friends of Tibet (TFOT) yesterday launched a campaign to bombard the Presidential Office with e-mails, reminding President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of his promise to show concern for human rights conditions amid rising number of Tibetan self-immolations.
“We started this campaign because we want to remind the president about the promise he made in 2008 while running for his first term as president,” TFOT vice-president Yiong Cong-ziin (楊長鎮) said.
“As many world leaders have spoken about the increasing number of self-immolations by Tibetans, we want to remind the president that it’s time for him to show his concern — as he promised in 2008 — about human rights conditions in Tibet,” Yiong added.
On March 18, 2008, just a few days before the voting day for the presidential election on March 22, Ma, as a candidate, condemned China’s violent crackdown on the Tibetans and promised that he would continue to show his concern.
He called the crackdowns “cruel and foolish,” and asked the Chinese government to immediately stop, adding that he would not rule out boycotting the Beijing Olympics if the crackdowns continued after his election.
While Ma used strong words in condemning human rights violations in Tibet, “he has never spoken a word about them since he was elected president,” Yiong said.
Since March last year, about 100 Tibetans have self-immolated in protest against Chinese repressive policies in Tibet, and called for freedom of religion, the return of the Dalai Lama to Tibet and Tibetan independence.
“Under pressure from China, Ma has not only been silent on human rights conditions in Tibet, he has also stopped talking about human rights violations in China in general,” Yiong said.
“This is not right. As Taiwan tries to enhance cross-strait exchanges, we should not give up on our stance on human rights. This is an issue that should be brought about during cross-strait talks, like many other countries have done when interacting with China,” he added.
He said he hopes to put pressure on the Presidential Office by sending many e-mails to the Presidential Office’s mailbox.
“At the moment, the objective is to gather 10,000 people to send e-mails,” Yiong added.
Hours after the event was launched, more than 170 people have joined as of press time.
Those who are interested may do so by filling in their names and addresses online at goo.gl/5mRY6, and an automatically generated e-mail would be delivered to the Presidential Office’s mailbox after hitting the “sign” button.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty