If a country determines a case to be a matter of political persecution, they can offer political asylum.
Kadeer has received a US green card while Isa has obtained German citizenship, and Isa even attended a forum organized by the UN’s Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in August, the same month that Taiwan’s Minister of the Interior Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) was calling him a terrorist.
Oddly enough, Jiang insists that Isa, who is enjoying international protection at many levels, has been listed as a terrorist by Interpol. Because Interpol has not published such a list, he says he obtained the classified information from “an ally.”
This sounds odd. Arrest orders for major dangerous criminals are published everywhere to facilitate their arrest. What would be the use of a secret list, one that only allies of the Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) administration know about? Unless, of course, it is a matter of persecution.
Without missing a beat, Jiang shamelessly claimed that Beijing’s arrest order was internationally recognized by Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. This is not a pretty list. It is a list of Chinese allies with bad human rights records. It is a rare occasion to see the Taiwanese government turn its back on liberty on a human rights issue and instead place itself on the side of authoritarian states. Jiang should tell us which of those countries are our allies.
The Ma administration’s explanations are a series of lies. These lies have undermined human rights, the spirit of freedom, the rule by law and the sovereignty of Taiwan. Taiwan is about to become the running dog of China’s anti-human rights camp.
Lin Cho-shui is a former Democratic Progressive Party legislator.
TRANSLATED BY PERRY SVENSSON
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