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.
Several Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) officials including Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) are to be summoned for questioning and then transferred to prosecutors for holding an illegal assembly in Taipei last night, the Taipei Police said today. Chu and two others hosted an illegal assembly and are to be requested to explain their actions, the Taipei City Police Department's Zhongzheng (中正) First Precinct said, referring to a protest held after Huang Lu Chin-ju (黃呂錦茹), KMT Taipei's chapter director, and several other KMT staffers were questioned for alleged signature forgery in recall petitions against Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators. Taipei prosecutors had filed
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
NEW WORLD: Taiwan is pursuing innovative approaches to international relations through economics, trade and values-based diplomacy, the foreign minister said Taiwan would implement a “three-chain strategy” that promotes democratic values in response to US tariffs, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said. Taiwan would aim to create a “global democratic value chain,” seek to capitalize on its position within the first island chain and promote a “non-red supply chain,” Lin was quoted as saying in the ministry’s written report to the Legislative Yuan submitted ahead of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee meeting slated for today. The Ministry would also uphold a spirit of mutual beneficial collaboration, maintaining close communication and consultations with Washington to show that Taiwan-US cooperation
Taiwan and the US have begun trade negotiations over tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump earlier this month, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said in an interview this morning before reporting to the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee. The Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO), Taiwan’s de facto embassy in the US, has already established communication channels with the US Department of State and the US Trade Representative (USTR), and is engaging in intensive consultations, he said. Points of negotiation include tariffs, non-tariff trade barriers and issues related to investment, procurement and export controls, he