A legislative committee yesterday passed a resolution urging the government to explore all diplomatic channels to free Taiwanese human rights advocate Lee Ming-che (李明哲), who is being detained in China.
The Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee passed a motion asking the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other agencies to lobby US and European politicians, and seek the help of non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
Lee went missing on March 19. Ten days later, Beijing said he had been detained for engaging in activities “endangering national security,” but did not reveal where he was being held.
Photo: CNA
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ding-yu (王定宇), who proposed the motion, asked if the ministry had sought international assistance in the case.
“No such efforts have been made,” a ministry official said.
“It is the government’s duty to explore all possible means to free its citizens, but the ministry has done nothing 24 days after [Lee’s detention]. What is the use of a government that cannot protect its citizens?” Wang said.
He asked the ministry to seek assistance from members of the US Congressional Taiwan Caucus and the US Department of State’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs to pressure Beijing to release Lee.
Wang asked Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister Lin Cheng-yi (林正義) if the council had drafted any countermeasures after China ignored the cross-strait judicial agreement and illegally detained a Taiwanese.
Lin said only that the council has “a variety of measures in place.”
New Power Party Legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐) questioned whether the nation has improved its response system since the arrest of Taiwanese Falun Gong practitioner Bruce Chung (鍾鼎邦) by Chinese security forces in 2012.
Lim said the council should set up a task force to plan and implement countermeasures should Taiwanese “disappear” in China, such as launching a global rescue campaign with the help of NGOs.
“China has trashed the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement (海峽兩岸共同打擊犯罪及司法互助協議) in Lee’s case. The council has to take action, instead of simply making statements, or China will be emboldened [by Taiwan’s inaction],” DPP Legislator Tsai Shih-ying (蔡適應) said.
The government informed Beijing of the arrest of Chinese citizen Zhou Hongxu (周泓旭), who was accused of forming a spy ring in Taiwan, while ensuring Zhou’s legal rights in accordance with the agreement, but China has yet to reveal why Lee was arrested and where he is being held, Tsai said.
Separately, at a meeting of the DPP Central Standing Committee, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said the government was making every effort to seek Lee’s release.
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY: Taiwan shares the same values as those that fought in WWII, and nations must unite to halt the expansion of a new authoritarian bloc, Lai said The government yesterday held a commemoration ceremony for Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, joining the rest of the world for the first time to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Taiwan honoring V-E Day signifies “our growing connections with the international community,” President William Lai (賴清德) said at a reception in Taipei on the 80th anniversary of V-E Day. One of the major lessons of World War II is that “authoritarianism and aggression lead only to slaughter, tragedy and greater inequality,” Lai said. Even more importantly, the war also taught people that “those who cherish peace cannot
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on Friday expressed concern over the rate at which China is diversifying its military exercises, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Saturday. “The rates of change on the depth and breadth of their exercises is the one non-linear effect that I’ve seen in the last year that wakes me up at night or keeps me up at night,” Paparo was quoted by FT as saying while attending the annual Sedona Forum at the McCain Institute in Arizona. Paparo also expressed concern over the speed with which China was expanding its military. While the US
‘FALLACY’: Xi’s assertions that Taiwan was given to the PRC after WWII confused right and wrong, and were contrary to the facts, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday called Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) claim that China historically has sovereignty over Taiwan “deceptive” and “contrary to the facts.” In an article published on Wednesday in the Russian state-run Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Xi said that this year not only marks 80 years since the end of World War II and the founding of the UN, but also “Taiwan’s restoration to China.” “A series of instruments with legal effect under international law, including the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Declaration have affirmed China’s sovereignty over Taiwan,” Xi wrote. “The historical and legal fact” of these documents, as well
RSS