Hong Kong Legislative Council members are considering amending the territory’s extradition laws to define Taiwan as part of China, the New Power Party (NPP) said yesterday.
If such amendments were passed, China would treat Taiwan as part of its jurisdiction and “more than 2 million Taiwanese who work and study in Hong Kong could face the same fate as Lee Ming-che (李明哲),” NPP Legislator Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) said.
Lee, a Taiwanese democracy advocate, was arrested in March 2017 when entering China from Macau, and eight months later was sentenced to five years in prison for “subversion of state power.”
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
The changes would not only raise the travel risk to Hong Kong, but also lead to greater self-censorship, he said.
The Hong Kong Security Bureau on Friday last week advised the council to amend the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance and the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Ordinance, saying that it is necessary to include “other parts of the People’s Republic of China” to the areas in which the two laws can be applied to allow criminals to be delivered from Hong Kong to Taiwan, Hsu said.
While the proposal has received the support of many pro-China members of the council, when asked about the matter, Minister of Justice Tsai Ching-hsiang (蔡清祥) only said that it has not yet happened and promised to look into it, Hsu said.
Although the proposal is still being discussed, as it concerns the nation’s sovereignty, the Taiwanese government should express its stance on the issue and support a proposal from pro-democracy councilors to only deal with bilateral agreements on extradition between Taiwan and Hong Kong, he said.
The Ministry of Justice would ensure that cross-strait judicial cooperation is handled in an “equal, reciprocal and respectful manner,” and would reject any request that fails to meet those requirements, ministry official Liu Yi-chun (劉怡君) said.
In this particular case, the ministry cannot comment on the proposed amendments, because no draft bills have yet been revealed, she said.
The Mainland Affairs Council is aware of the proposals and hopes that the Hong Kong government would deal with the matter with caution and consider the interests of both sides, agency official Huang Ting-hui (黃廷輝) said.
“The government will not accept anything aimed at undermining the nation’s sovereignty,” he added.
FIREPOWER: On top of the torpedoes, the military would procure Kestrel II anti-tank weapons systems to replace aging license-produced M72 LAW launchers Taiwan is to receive US-made Mark 48 torpedoes and training simulators over the next three years, following delays that hampered the navy’s operational readiness, the Ministry of National Defense’s latest budget proposal showed. The navy next year would acquire four training simulator systems for the torpedoes and take receipt of 14 torpedoes in 2027 and 10 torpedoes in 2028, the ministry said in its budget for the next fiscal year. The torpedoes would almost certainly be utilized in the navy’s two upgraded Chien Lung-class submarines and the indigenously developed Hai Kun, should the attack sub successfully reach operational status. US President Donald Trump
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to start construction of its 1.4-nanometer chip manufacturing facilities at the Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP, 中部科學園區) as early as October, the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) reported yesterday, citing the park administration. TSMC acquired land for the second phase of the park’s expansion in Taichung in June. Large cement, construction and facility engineering companies in central Taiwan have reportedly been receiving bids for TSMC-related projects, the report said. Supply-chain firms estimated that the business opportunities for engineering, equipment and materials supply, and back-end packaging and testing could reach as high as
ALL QUIET: The Philippine foreign secretary told senators she would not respond to questions about whether Lin Chia-lung was in the country The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday confirmed that a business delegation is visiting the Philippines, but declined to say whether Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) is part of the group, as Philippine lawmakers raised questions over Lin’s reported visit. The group is being led by Deputy Minister of Agriculture Huang Chao-chin (黃昭欽), Chinese International Economic Cooperation Association (CIECA) chairman Joseph Lyu (呂桔誠) and US-Taiwan Business Council (USTBC) vice president Lotta Danielsson, the ministry said in a statement. However, sources speaking on condition of anonymity said that Lin is leading the delegation of 70 people. Filinvest New Clark City Innovation Park
DEFENSIVE EDGE: The liaison officer would work with Taiwan on drones and military applications for other civilian-developed technologies, a source said A Pentagon unit tasked with facilitating the US military’s adoption of new technology is soon to deploy officials to dozens of friendly nations, including Taiwan, the Financial Times reported yesterday. The US Department of Defense’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) is to send a representative to collaborate with Taiwan on drones and military applications from the semiconductor industry by the end of the year, the British daily reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “Drones will certainly be a focus, but they will also be looking at connecting to the broader civilian and dual-use ecosystem, including the tech sector,” one source was
RSS