The Presidential Office on Thursday expressed gratitude for the European Parliament’s support for Taiwanese human rights advocate Lee Ming-che (李明哲), who has been detained in China for more than three months on charges of subversion of state power.
“We’re very grateful for all the international assistance on the case,” Presidential Office spokesman Sidney Lin (林鶴明) said in response to the adoption of a resolution on Thursday by the European Parliament that called for Beijing to release Lee.
Lin also repeated a call for the Chinese authorities to “cautiously deal with Lee’s case in a civilized way” and to let him come home as soon as possible.
Earlier in the day, members of the European Parliament discussed the cases of Lee and 2010 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo (劉曉波) and during a plenary session passed a resolution calling for Beijing to release the two.
Lee — a former Democratic Progressive Party worker, a staff member at Wenshan Community College in Taipei and a volunteer at local non-governmental organization (NGO) Covenants Watch — was detained by China after entering Zhuhai via Macau on March 19.
Taiwan has repeatedly urged Beijing to release Lee, but to no avail.
Lee’s case has sparked concern from local and international human rights groups.
The European Parliament called on Beijing to immediately release Liu as well as his wife from house arrest, and allow him to seek medical treatment wherever he wishes, according to a statement issued by the parliament.
“The human rights activist has been imprisoned since 2009 for cowriting a manifesto known as Charter 08, calling for fundamental reforms and is being denied to move outside China for treatment of his late-stage liver cancer,” the statement said.
The statement said that the parliament is highly concerned by China’s “continued efforts to silence civil society actors” with the help of new laws on state security, counterterrorism, cybersecurity and foreign NGO management.
The parliament urges the EU to continue raising the issue of human rights violations in its dialogues with Beijing and to force China to live up to its international human rights commitments, the statement said.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
NO CHANGE: The TRA makes clear that the US does not consider the status of Taiwan to have been determined by WWII-era documents, a former AIT deputy director said The American Institute in Taiwan’s (AIT) comments that World War-II era documents do not determine Taiwan’s political status accurately conveyed the US’ stance, the US Department of State said. An AIT spokesperson on Saturday said that a Chinese official mischaracterized World War II-era documents as stating that Taiwan was ceded to the China. The remarks from the US’ de facto embassy in Taiwan drew criticism from the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, whose director said the comments put Taiwan in danger. The Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday reported that a US State Department spokesperson confirmed the AIT’s position. They added that the US would continue to
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