Several Taiwanese businessmen who work in China condemned the Chinese authorities yesterday for apparently condoning crimes against them.
The businessmen spoke of their tribulations at a news conference held at the Legislative Yuan by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chang Ching-fang (
They said China was a country rife with obscure laws and many well-intended Taiwanese business-people had seen their investments stolen or confiscated. They appealed to the Chinese government to address cases involving Taiwanese with fairness and impartiality.
At the news conference, Lin Chih-sheng (林志昇) said that he invested a great deal of money in 1993 to build four schools in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province. Before 2000, the authorities in Chengdu declared the buildings illegal and confiscated them all.
Then, Lin said, one day in 2001, several gangsters came to his home and tried to kidnap him. He escaped and reported the incident to local public security authorities who decided that the way to protect him was to detain him for 15 days.
Lin said he fled from Chengdu to Xiamen in Fujian Province in 2002 and from Xiamen he paid human traffickers to have him smuggled to Kinmen.
Another businessman, Pao Yang-bo (
Kao Wei-pang (高為邦) said that he invested and operated a manufacturing plant in Yenjiao, Hebei Province. One of his local employees forged Kao's signature on guarantee documents that were used to fraudulently obtain a large loan.
Kao said that the incident happened more than five years ago but the suspect is still at large while the bank continues to press him to repay the money that was embezzled.
Voicing support for the Taiwan-ese businesspeople, Chang said that more than 1,000 Taiwanese had filed appeals to the Mainland Affairs Council for help after they had been conned, kidnapped or arrested in China.
Noting that the actual number of Taiwanese who had been taken advantage of in China could exceed 3,000, Chang called for the Chinese authorities to demonstrate some respect for the law and help do justice to the Taiwanese businesspeople who had made numerous contributions to China's society.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday briefed her party’s Central Standing Committee regarding her scheduled visit to the US between Monday next week and June 16, saying that her purpose would be to persuade the US that the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution was a “one China” constitution that would foster stable and peaceful cross-strait relations. The ROC Constitution is the most important defense for all Taiwanese citizens, as it upholds our democracy and has contributed to our robust economy, which aligns with international and US interests, she said. “We would not be troublemakers and drag the US under,”
RSS