World Uyghur Congress president Rebiya Kadeer told a banquet in Washington over the weekend that Taiwanese should beware of Chinese promises in case “sweet dreams turn into a nightmare.”
“Taiwan now has very good economic relations with China, but do not be held hostage to China’s economy. All people should be able to decide their own political destiny,” she told the annual US Thanksgiving Banquet held by the Greater Washington Chapter of the Taiwanese Association of America on Saturday night.
“It is an extremely scary thing to live without democracy,” she said.
In a dramatic address that drew a standing ovation, she said she had been denied a visa to visit Taiwan by the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who she said had bowed to pressure from Beijing.
“But I will visit Taiwan [again] one day, regardless of one person and his administration,” she said.
Kadeer, who was imprisoned for six years in China as a result of her protests on behalf of Uighurs, said that “in the early days,” Chinese government policies were the same toward Uighur as they are now toward Taiwanese.
The Chinese insisted that they only wanted to help, to develop and to defend the Uighur, she said.
“It was just like the propaganda that China is spreading now in Taiwan — exactly the same thing,” Kadeer said. “Many people believed that good days were coming because of Chinese government policies. They tried to be friends and treated the Uighur nicely, like they were great people. We thought they were our true friends.”
However, once China was in control, the Uighur realized there was to be no freedom or liberty.
“They arrested hundreds of thousands of our people and executed many,” she said.
Kadeer said that Beijing changed its story and told the world that it was only helping “these backward, uneducated and barbarian Uighur.”
“We have never enjoyed a moment of peace under Chinese rule,” she said. “They took our scholars and teachers and historians, and wiped them out. They pushed our people into poverty and our lands, all were confiscated and turned over to the Chinese.”
“Those Uighur who protested for their rights were arrested and many executed,” she said.
Kadeer warned Taiwan that if China took it over, Beijing would confiscate property, stop people from speaking their own language and try to destroy the national culture.
“I pray to God that the people of Taiwan will not suffer what we have suffered under Chinese rule. I hope that you will not be deceived by China’s propaganda,” she said. “Taiwan now has very good economic relations with China, but do not be held hostage by China’s economy. All people should be able to decide their own political destiny. It is an extremely scary thing to live without democracy.”
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
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
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