The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday condemned China for sentencing Taiwanese National Party cofounder Yang Chih-yuan (楊智淵) to nine years in prison for the crime of secession without an open trial or presenting substantial evidence.
“Both the government and Yang’s family refuse to accept such a ruling. We demand that Beijing disclose the verdict in writing immediately and explain the evidence used to support the ruling,” Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) told reporters at a news conference.
The crime that Yang allegedly committed was living a life like the majority of Taiwanese, he said.
Photo: Chiu Shu-yu, Taipei Times
The purpose of the case is to frighten Taiwanese and for China to overreach its administrative authority in Taiwan, Liang said.
“The verdict has coincidentally proven that the 22 guidelines Beijing issued in July — allowing its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death ‘Taiwan independence separatists’ — applies to all people in Taiwan,” Liang said.
“Any Taiwanese can be convicted as a ‘Taiwan independence separatist’ as long as Beijing wishes to,” he said
“While China uses a two-pronged strategy to lure Taiwanese to China, it has also used Internet celebrities and China sympathizers in Taiwan to amplify its appeals here. The purpose of these tactics is for Taiwanese to let their guard down,” he added.
Asked about Yang’s possible whereabouts, Liang said that he is likely in Wenzhou in Zhejiang Province, as he was on trial there, adding that the council would keep in close contact with Yang’s family.
Public records show that Yang did not return to Taiwan after leaving for China in January 2022.
In August of that year, a program on China Central Television showed that the Chinese Ministry of State Security officers in Wenzhou had summoned and questioned Yang after accusing him of having been engaged in “Taiwan independence” separatist activities for a long time and that he was suspected of endangering national security.
The Chinese Communists Party subsequently accused him of committing the crimes of secession and inciting secession for pushing for Taiwan’s independence.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it is fully aware of the situation following reports that the son of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai (薄熙來) has arrived in Taiwan and is to marry a Taiwanese. Local media reported that Bo Guagua (薄瓜瓜), son of the former member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is to marry the granddaughter of Luodong Poh-Ai Hospital founder Hsu Wen-cheng (許文政). The pair met when studying abroad and arranged to get married this year, with the wedding breakfast to be held at The One holiday resort in Hsinchu
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon this morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan between Friday and Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The storm, which as of 8am was still 1,100km southeast of southern Taiwan, is currently expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, the CWA said. Because of its rapid speed — 28kph as of 8am — a sea warning for the storm could be issued tonight, rather than tomorrow, as previously forecast, the CWA said. In terms of its impact, Usagi is to bring scattered or
An orange gas cloud that leaked from a waste management plant yesterday morning in Taoyuan’s Guanyin District (觀音) was likely caused by acidic waste, authorities said, adding that it posed no immediate harm. The leak occurred at a plant in the district’s Environmental Science and Technology Park at about 7am, the Taoyuan Fire Department said. Firefighters discovered a cloud of unidentified orange gas leaking from a waste tank when they arrived on the site, it said, adding that they put on Level A chemical protection before entering the building. After finding there was no continuous leak, the department worked with the city’s Department
RSS