Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) yesterday dismissed media speculation that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) had nixed plans for him to accept a human rights award from an unnamed international organization on his trip to Europe.
Wang made the remarks after the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) yesterday reported that a rumor was making the rounds in diplomatic circles that MOFA had declined an offer by a “Taiwan-friendly” international human rights group to present Wang with an award at the Belgian Federal Parliament for contributing to human rights.
MOFA had allegedly blocked the plans for fear that the award would have a negative impact on cross-strait relations, the paper said. The paper approached the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy — where Wang serves as chairman — which said it had not received information about any award.
PHOTO: CNA
“I don’t think [MOFA] would have done so [discourage a human rights group from offering an award],” Wang said when approached for comment as he left for the EU with a delegation.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Francisco Ou (歐鴻鍊) also dismissed the report. At a separate setting, Ou said President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) “diplomatic truce” with Beijing had not impeded Wang from accepting any award.
“We would be overjoyed if any foreign governments or international organizations would like to honor our senior officials. Why would we sabotage the opportunity?” Ou said.
A MOFA official speaking on the condition of anonymity said the ministry had not received any information that Wang would be awarded by a human rights group on his 11-day trip.
At press time, Benoit Ryelandt, director of the Belgian Office, Taipei, could not be reached for comment.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
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