An alliance of Taiwanese civic groups yesterday launched a global petition campaign to support the “new civic movement” in China and dissidents detained over their involvement in the movement.
“We are saddened and disappointed at the Chinese government’s persecution of those involved in the movement — a movement that represents a maturing of civic awareness and political participation in China, and the healthy development of Chinese civil society,” the alliance said in a press release.
The alliance includes seven civic groups, among them the New School for Democracy, the Taiwan Association for Human Rights, Taiwan Democracy Watch and the Taiwan Association for China Human Rights.
The alliance called for Beijing to release more than 20 members of the movement who have been detained since March, including its leader Xu Zhiyong (許志永), or at least offer them a fair and open trial.
Several other detained dissidents, including Liu Xia (劉霞), wife of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo (劉曉波) and rights activist Hu Jia (胡佳) should also be released, the alliance demanded.
The alliance said representatives would visit Mainland Affairs Council Minister Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) and demand that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) publicly express concerns over Beijing’s oppression of human rights activists in China.
“We also call for the Taiwanese government to improve the treatment of those Chinese dissidents who seek political asylum in Taiwan, which would promote the development of civil society across the Taiwan Strait,” the alliance said.
FAST TRACK? Chinese spouses must renounce their Chinese citizenship and pledge allegiance to Taiwan to gain citizenship, some demonstrators said Opponents and supporters of a bill that would allow Chinese spouses to obtain Taiwanese citizenship in four years instead of six staged protests near the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday morning. Those who oppose the bill proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) demanded that Chinese spouses be granted citizenship only after renouncing their Chinese citizenship, passing a citizenship test and pledging allegiance to Taiwan. The demonstrators, who were protesting at a side entrance to the Legislative Yuan on Jinan Road, were mostly members of the Taiwan Association of University Professors and other organizations advocating Taiwanese independence. Supporters of the bill, led
SILENT MAJORITY: Only 1 percent of Chinese rejected all options but war to annex Taiwan, while one-third viewed war as unacceptable, a university study showed Many Chinese are more concerned with developments inside their country than with seeking unification with Taiwan, al-Jazeera reported on Friday. Although China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to annex it, by force if necessary, 23-year-old Chinese Shao Hongtian was quoted by al-Jazeera as saying that “hostilities are not the way to bring China and Taiwan together.” “I want unification to happen peacefully,” Shao said. Al-Jazeera said it changed Shao’s name to respect his wish for anonymity. If peaceful unification is not possible, Shao said he would prefer “things to remain as they are,” adding that many of his friends feel
Taiwan has “absolute air superiority” over China in its own airspace, Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) told a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Monday, amid concern over whether Taipei could defend itself against a military incursion by Beijing. Po made the remarks in response to a question from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) on whether Taiwan would have partial or complete air superiority if Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes were to enter Taiwan’s airspace. Po, a retired pilot, said that the Taiwanese military has “absolute air superiority” over PLA
A shipment of basil pesto imported by Costco Wholesale Taiwan from the US in the middle of last month was intercepted at the border after testing positive for excessive pesticide residue, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. Samples taken from a shipment of the Kirkland Signature brand of basil pesto imported by Costco contained 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of ethylene oxide, exceeding the non-detectable limit. Ethylene oxide is a carcinogenic substance that can be used as a pesticide. The 674kg shipment of basil pesto would either be destroyed or returned to its country of origin, as is the procedure for all