The World Medical Association (WMA) on Tuesday deplored a reported breakdown of medical care in Hong Kong and urged authorities to respect human rights, after Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) urged it to respond to the “appalling” situation.
After images on social media showed medical personnel being arrested during a police siege of Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Wu wrote on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Twitter account that the situation was appalling and absolutely unacceptable, tagging the WMA’s account and asking it to speak up.
“The reported breakdown of medical care and humanitarian assistance for protesters in Hong Kong have been deplored by the World Medical Association,” the association said in an official statement.
The WMA demands that Hong Kong authorities respect human rights and not go against the spirit of the Geneva Conventions, it said.
“Medical personnel must be protected at all times, no matter what the situation. The lives of physicians, nurses and paramedics are at risk in the escalating violence,” WMA president Miguel Jorge said in the statement.
“The world cannot tolerate this breakdown of medical care and we would urge the Hong Kong authorities to restore humanitarian assistance and allow physicians, nurses and paramedics to care for all those caught up in the violence without interference by the police,” he said.
In related news, a Taiwanese high-school student, surnamed Tai (戴), was released on bail from a Hong Kong police station yesterday, one day after she was detained while attempting to leave the Polytechnic.
The mother of the 18-year-old confirmed her release after posting bail of HK$2,000 (US$256).
She said that her daughter was not charged with any offenses, but must report to Hong Kong police late next month.
Tai was not prevented from leaving Hong Kong, her mother said.
Tai “is in good shape,” her mother said, adding that Tai was offered food, clothes and a blanket at the police station.
“No one assaulted or used abusive language against her during her detention,” Tai’s mother said.
Tai said she suspected that Hong Kong police did not treat her badly because Mainland Affairs Council officials had intervened.
Her mother said that she and Tai would remain in Hong Kong before returning to Taiwan for the Lunar New Year holiday in late January, when they would decide whether Tai would return to Hong Kong to continue her studies.
She thanked the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Hong Kong for its assistance and also expressed gratitude to the media for reporting Tai’s detention, drawing the attention of relevant authorities to the case.
The council confirmed Tai’s release in a statement issued earlier in the day, saying that it would continue to provide any necessary care and legal assistance.
Tai was detained after leaving the university with other high-school students with the assistance of a group of high-school principals who went to rescue about 100 minors barricaded on the campus.
She was held at a police station in Kwai Chung in the New Territories, because she is 18 years old, the council said.
Her mother said that Tai left home at about noon on Sunday and told her that she was heading for Mongkok before approaching Tsim Sha Tsui at about 4pm.
Tai was just passing by and did not take part in the protests, her mother said, adding that her daughter tried to run away, but all the exits had been barricaded.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
NOVEL METHODS: The PLA has adopted new approaches and recently conducted three combat readiness drills at night which included aircraft and ships, an official said Taiwan is monitoring China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) exercises for changes in their size or pattern as the nation prepares for president-elect William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration on May 20, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. Tsai made the comment at a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, in response to Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ting-yu’s (王定宇) questions. China continues to employ a carrot-and-stick approach, in which it applies pressure with “gray zone” tactics, while attempting to entice Taiwanese with perks, Tsai said. These actions aim to help Beijing look like it has
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,