Taiwan should suspend all religious exchanges with China before Beijing stops its oppression on Tibetan monks, the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) said yesterday.
TSU legislative caucus whip Hsu Chung-hsin (許忠信) said China’s recent crackdown on Tibetan monks has been one of the most brutal cases of persecution in history, which has resulted in at least 20 monks dying from 30 cases of self-immolation since March last year.
The TSU would propose to observe a moment of silence before the next legislative session to pay tribute to those monks who perished, Hsu said.
President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration should recognize the gravity of the oppression and suspend all religious exchanges across the Taiwan Strait until Beijing stops its violent actions, Hsu said.
TSU Legislator Huang Wen-ling (黃文玲) said China is an atheist country and that it oppresses all religions, including Christianity and Catholicism.
The most recent crackdown in Tibet began in 2008, when China tightened its control over the region before the Beijing Summer Olympics by deploying its troops there and enforcing “patriotism education,” TSU Legislator Lin Shih-chia (林世嘉) said.
The Tibetan issue goes beyond religion as it is also related to human rights and ethnicity, Lin said.
“Engaging in religious exchanges with a country like China would amount to self-belittlement for Taiwan,” Lin said.
The Democratic Progressive Party expressed similar concerns on Feb. 21 over the situation in Tibet amid an intensifying crackdown by Chinese authorities and called on Ma to voice his concerns to Beijing.
LOUD AND PROUD Taiwan might have taken a drubbing against Australia and Japan, but you might not know it from the enthusiasm and numbers of the fans Taiwan might not be expected to win the World Baseball Classic (WBC) but their fans are making their presence felt in Tokyo, with tens of thousands decked out in the team’s blue, blowing horns and singing songs. Taiwanese fans have packed out the Tokyo Dome for all three of their games so far and even threatened to drown out home team supporters when their team played Japan on Friday. They blew trumpets, chanted for their favorite players and had their own cheerleading squad who dance on a stage during the game. The team struggled to match that exuberance on the field, with
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said. As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwan by force, to what extent Japan could support US military action would hinge on Washington’s intention and its negotiation with Tokyo, Morimoto said in an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday. There has to be sufficient mutual recognition of how Japan could provide
UPDATED TEST: The new rules aim to assess drivers’ awareness of risky behaviors and how they respond under certain circumstances, the Highway Bureau said Driver’s license applicants who fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections or to check blind spots, or omit pointing-and-calling procedures would fail the driving test, the Highway Bureau said yesterday. The change is set to be implemented at the end of the month, and is part of the bureau’s reform of the driving portion of the test, which has been criticized for failing to assess whether drivers can operate vehicles safely. Sedan drivers would be tested regarding yielding to pedestrians and turning their heads to check blind spots, while drivers of large vehicles would be tested on their familiarity with pointing-and-calling
A Taiwanese man apologized on Friday after saying in a social media post that he worked with Australia to provide scouting reports on Taiwan’s team, enabling Australia’s victory in this year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC), saying it was a joke and that he did not hold any position with foreign teams or Taiwan’s sports training center. Chen Po-hao (陳柏豪) drew the rage of many Taiwan baseball fans when he posted online on Thursday night, claiming credit for Australia’s 3-0 win over Taiwan in the opening game for Pool C, saying he worked as a physical therapist with the national team and
RSS