The issue of human rights violations in China has continued to be a point of contention in its relationships with many countries as Beijing becomes even more brazen in imposing high-handed responses to civil rights movements. However, its relationship with Taiwan stands out as an exception, as it has long been characterized by little attention to China’s human rights issues.
In the most recent systematic suppression since China revised its National Security Act on July 1, the number of lawyers, law firm staff and human rights activists who were criminally detained, held incommunicado, summoned for questioning or subjected to temporary restrictions on personal freedom totaled 106 across more than 15 provinces as of Sunday, according to the China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group.
Joining the international community in condemning the recent wave of mass arrests and roundups in China, representatives of civil groups in Taiwan yesterday stood up for the Chinese activists following separate statements by the Democratic Progressive Party, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Mainland Affairs Council issued over the weekend calling on Beijing to stop its human rights abuses. There is certainly more that should and must be done.
Until a few decades ago, Taiwanese were still living through a dark period in the nation’s history. During a period of repression that started with the 228 Incident in 1947 and continued until the lifting of martial law in 1987, it was not uncommon for family members and friends to disappear. The collective pain and suffering of a society struggling for democracy is something that Taiwanese should be able to empathize with.
If the number of countries whose appalling human rights records sometimes touch a nerve with the public, there should be more urgency to call on Beijing to enforce international norms in its human rights affairs.
Paying more attention to China’s human rights issues also serves Taiwan’s interests.
China’s newly revised National Security Act — which covers a large spectrum of issues, including the environment, defense, finance, information technology, culture, ideology, education and religion, and employs an extremely broad definition of national security — has raised concerns that national security could be invoked as a tool to target human rights activists and silence critics. What the defenders of human rights in China have experienced prove that the concerns are not groundless.
That being said, the act — the implications of which have been overlooked in Taiwan — should be taken more seriously. Under the act, Taiwanese are obligated to maintain the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of China as “Chinese” or risk punishment for engaging in activities endangering national security that might incur legal responsibility.
Although the legislation has no extraterritorial applications to people in Taiwan, Taiwanese who visit China or reside in China for work or study, estimated to number more than 1 million, might face the same fate as the Chinese human rights activists if they fail to perform their “national security obligations.”
Other than releasing statements, the government and political parties have done little to exert pressure on Beijing to improve its human rights record or to come up with effective measures to secure the release of imprisoned Chinese dissidents.
Whether China continues to rise peacefully hinges on its realization of human rights. As Taiwan is expected to serve as a role model for human rights in Asia, it should introduce human rights as a requirement in cross-strait relations.
Because much of what former US president Donald Trump says is unhinged and histrionic, it is tempting to dismiss all of it as bunk. Yet the potential future president has a populist knack for sounding alarums that resonate with the zeitgeist — for example, with growing anxiety about World War III and nuclear Armageddon. “We’re a failing nation,” Trump ranted during his US presidential debate against US Vice President Kamala Harris in one particularly meandering answer (the one that also recycled urban myths about immigrants eating cats). “And what, what’s going on here, you’re going to end up in World War
Earlier this month in Newsweek, President William Lai (賴清德) challenged the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to retake the territories lost to Russia in the 19th century rather than invade Taiwan. He stated: “If it is for the sake of territorial integrity, why doesn’t [the PRC] take back the lands occupied by Russia that were signed over in the treaty of Aigun?” This was a brilliant political move to finally state openly what many Chinese in both China and Taiwan have long been thinking about the lost territories in the Russian far east: The Russian far east should be “theirs.” Granted, Lai issued
On Sept. 2, Elbridge Colby, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and force development, wrote an article for the Wall Street Journal called “The US and Taiwan Must Change Course” that defends his position that the US and Taiwan are not doing enough to deter the People’s Republic of China (PRC) from taking Taiwan. Colby is correct, of course: the US and Taiwan need to do a lot more or the PRC will invade Taiwan like Russia did against Ukraine. The US and Taiwan have failed to prepare properly to deter war. The blame must fall on politicians and policymakers
Gogoro Inc was once a rising star and a would-be unicorn in the years prior to its debut on the NASDAQ in 2022, as its environmentally friendly technology and stylish design attracted local young people. The electric scooter and battery swapping services provider is bracing for a major personnel shakeup following the abrupt resignation on Friday of founding chairman Horace Luke (陸學森) as chief executive officer. Luke’s departure indicates that Gogoro is sinking into the trough of unicorn disillusionment, with the company grappling with poor financial performance amid a slowdown in demand at home and setbacks in overseas expansions. About 95