Eighteen US-based Taiwanese-American organizations issued a joint statement yesterday accusing the government of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of sacrificing Taiwan’s democracy and human rights to cater to China during last week’s visit by Association for Relations Across the Strait Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林).
“In an attempt to kiss up to Beijing, the Ma administration prohibited public display of [Republic of China items] on the streets. It was a dark moment in Taiwan’s democracy,” Central News Agency (CNA) quoted the statement as saying.
Taiwanese Association of America chairman Ron Hsieh (謝榮峻) said that almost all Taiwanese-American organizations felt “extreme sadness, worry and anger” at Ma’s handling of the visit, which he said had caused much social disharmony in Taiwan.
The statement said that to welcome the Chinese Communist Party representative, the Ma administration not only stripped the people of their right to wave their country’s flag, play Taiwanese songs and wear whatever they choose to wear, it also mobilized more than 7,000 police officers to secure the safety of one person.
Barbed wire was erected, people waving Tibetan flags were apprehended and applications to stage a protest were denied — all actions, the statement said, that were undertaken by the Ma administration to “make Chen feel like a revered guest.”
“Taiwan has become a police state as can only exist in a totalitarian regime,” the CNA report quoted the statement as saying, adding that Taiwan’s hard-won democracy and rule of law, realized through blood and tears, were all destroyed in just a few short days.
All Taiwanese, the statement added, must stand in solidarity. The US-based Taiwanese groups promised to urge the mainstream US media, political sector and academics to take notice of Taiwan’s recent regression and to publicly support its democracy in international settings.
The organizations that signed the statement also include the Formosan Association for Public Affairs, the North American Taiwan Professors’ Association, the World Taiwanese Congress and the Taiwan Association for Human Rights.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-Wong tomorrow, which it said would possibly make landfall near central Taiwan. As of 2am yesterday, Fung-Wong was about 1,760km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving west-northwest at 26kph. It is forecast to reach Luzon in the northern Philippines by tomorrow, the CWA said. After entering the South China Sea, Typhoon Fung-Wong is likely to turn northward toward Taiwan, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said, adding that it would likely make landfall near central Taiwan. The CWA expects to issue a land
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The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it is expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong this afternoon and a land warning tomorrow. As of 1pm, the storm was about 1,070km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, and was moving west-northwest at 28 to 32kph, according to CWA data. The storm had a radius of 250km, with maximum sustained winds of 173kph and gusts reaching 209kph, the CWA added. The storm is forecast to pass near Luzon in the Philippines before entering the South China Sea and potentially turning northward toward Taiwan, the CWA said. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said
PREPARATION: Ferry lines and flights were canceled ahead of only the second storm to hit the nation in November, while many areas canceled classes and work Authorities yesterday evacuated more than 3,000 people ahead of approaching Tropical Storm Fung-wong, which is expected to make landfall between Kaohsiung and Pingtung County this evening. Fung-wong was yesterday morning downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical storm as it approached the nation’s southwest coast, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, as it issued a land alert for the storm. The alert applies to residents in Tainan, Kaohsiung, Pingtung and Taitung counties, and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春). As of press time last night, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Yilan, Miaoli, Changhua, Yunlin, Pingtung and Penghu counties, as well as Chiayi city and county had
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