A Mainland Affairs Council official called on China yesterday to speed up its transportation arrangements to facilitate the repatriation of more than 2,000 illegal Chinese immigrants in Taiwan.
MAC Vice Chairman Huang Wei-feng (黃偉峰) made the remarks during a visit to a Hsinchu detention center for illegal Chinese immigrants.
Huang pointed out that the repatriation process has been too slow to cope with the rapid increase in the number of illegal Chinese immigrants arrested in Taiwan, prompting the government to expand its detention facilities to cope with the situation.
Meanwhile, MAC Vice Chairman You Ying-lung (游盈隆) yesterday also called on China to heed the suggestions of the US and open dialogue with the government of Taiwan without setting any preconditions.
According to You, the source of cross-Taiwan Strait deadlock lies with the Chinese side, and the deadlock will continue if Beijing insists on setting preconditions on opening official dialogue with Taipei, which is a situation unwelcome by Taiwan and the international community.
While US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld expressed his concern over China's continued military buildup and increased military deployments targeting Taiwan during the Fourth Asian Security Conference held last week in Singapore, US President George W. Bush reaffirmed Washington's commitment to defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion during a June 8 TV interview, You noted.
Before, the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia and the Pacific on June 7, Christopher R. Hill, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, called on China to reach out to the duly elected leaders of Taiwan and engage in any form of dialogue.
Former Czech Republic-based Taiwanese researcher Cheng Yu-chin (鄭宇欽) has been sentenced to seven years in prison on espionage-related charges, China’s Ministry of State Security announced yesterday. China said Cheng was a spy for Taiwan who “masqueraded as a professor” and that he was previously an assistant to former Cabinet secretary-general Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). President-elect William Lai (賴清德) on Wednesday last week announced Cho would be his premier when Lai is inaugurated next month. Today is China’s “National Security Education Day.” The Chinese ministry yesterday released a video online showing arrests over the past 10 years of people alleged to be
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