President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday urged Beijing to release jailed Chinese writer and dissident Liu Xiaobo (劉曉波), who was awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday.
“If Liu Xiaobo could regain his freedom, I believe Taiwanese would appreciate such a move from China,” Ma said while addressing a party for about 7,000 expatriates returning home to attend the Double Ten Day at the Taipei Arena yesterday afternoon.
Ma’s call came in the wake of criticism from the opposition party and critics, who earlier yesterday slammed the Ma administration for failing to call for Liu’s release in its statement on Friday congratulating Liu for winning the Nobel Prize.
In a written statement on Friday, Ma described Liu’s winning the award as bearing “significant historical meaning” for the development of human rights in China, as well as Chinese communities around the world.
“We expect mainland China to address the issue of human rights with a whole new attitude, solve major human rights incidents with honesty and confidence, and treat dissidents with more tolerance,” the statement said.
The failure to call for Liu’s release in the statement drew criticism from Democratic Progressive Party Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), who yesterday morning said it was disappointing that Taiwan, as a democratic country, failed to join other world leaders in calling for Liu’s release.
She said that under the Ma administration, Taiwan’s human rights standards had regressed to that of China.
Former deputy National Security Council secretary-general Chen Chung-hsin (陳忠信) also dismissed the Presidential Office’s Friday statement as “rubbish” and “empty talk,” alleging Ma did not have the guts to join other world leaders and ask for Liu’s release.
Citing US President Barack Obama as an example, Chen said that although Obama wants to make friends with China, he was also clear on his position and values.
“Even if the Ma administration wants to adopt a China-friendly policy, it should not let it get in the way of its insistence on human values,” Chen said.
Tung Li-wen (董立文), a professor at the Graduate School of Public Security at Central Police University, observed that China was more likely to further suppress political dissidents than open up after Liu’s winning the Nobel Peace Prize.
Tung said he had mixed feelings about the honor bestowed upon Liu. On the one hand, Tung said he was happy that the international community paid attention to, and was willing to challenge China’s human rights record and democratic development. On the other hand, as Liu is still in prison, Tung said he was not optimistic about Liu’s personal future.
“There are two possible developments in China,” Tung said. “The possibility that it will become more suppressive and authoritarian is more likely than that it will become more open and democratic.”
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY RICH CHANG
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique