Wu Yalin (
"I wanted to stay in Taiwan, but the MAC told me that Taiwan has no asylum law. I am at a loss for what to do next," Wu told a press conference in Taipei yesterday.
Wu said he fled Chinese authorities who wanted to arrest him for distributing copies of Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party (
PHOTO: CHEN TSE-MING, TAIPEI TIMES
After Wu arrived in the country as a tourist last Thursday, he met with MAC officials twice to request asylum, but to no avail.
Attorney Tung Wen-hsun (童文薰), who is helping Wu negotiate with the MAC pro bono, lashed out at the government's response.
"I don't see why the MAC is in such a hurry to kick Wu out," she said.
Tung said the absence of an asylum law is an excuse: "Shouldn't the government be more flexible in considering this case, regardless of the law?"
"In November, I was sentenced to three years of re-education through labor for encouraging people to read the pamphlet. A friend of mine with the Public Security Bureau recently told me I should flee. That's why I decided to flee China's brutality," Wu said.
Wu said he was jailed between 1981 and 1990 for criticizing the Chinese Communist Party as undemocratic after a local election in his Sichuan hometown.
Wu entered Taiwan as part of a Chinese tour group from Thailand and contacted the Judicial Reform Foundation the next day to seek political asylum.
MAC Vice Chairman Liu Te-shun (
"As unfair judicial rulings exist in many countries, he should deal with this problem via the legal system in his country. We ask that he leave when his trip finishes [today]," Liu said on Friday.
But Tung dismissed Liu's comments. He said that the MAC refused to give Wu time to prove that he is being persecuted for distributing the Epoch Times pamphlet.
"We know Wu does not qualify for political asylum on the basis of his prior imprisonment, but why can't the MAC wait for Wu to prove he is wanted because of the pamphlet?" Tung asked.
Tung said Wu would apply to extend his visitor's visa today.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai