A group of 21 Taiwanese-American organizations on Monday accused President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of leading the nation on a “gradual drift into the shadow of China.”
In an open letter to Ma — published on the Internet and sent to members of the US Congress — the organizations charged that under Ma’s administration, Taiwan had moved “in the direction of a repressive China at the expense of freedom and democracy.”
The letter was to be delivered to Ma during his six-hour stopover in Los Angeles before he returned to Taiwan following a five-country visit to Caribbean and South American allies.
Ma has cut short his visit by a day to be back in Taiwan because of a tropical storm.
The organizations said they wanted to “express concern” about recent actions and decisions by the Ma government, and to support recent protests organized by civic groups in Taiwan.
They said Taiwanese were taking to the streets to oppose Ma’s “wrong-headed policies and heavy-handed practices.”
The letter cited opposition to the signing of the cross-strait service trade agreement with China, construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in Gongliao District (貢寮), New Taipei City (新北市), and the forced demolition of homes in Taipei and Miaoli.
It said Taiwanese were “angry and upset about the incompetence of your government” and that Ma’s policies were reminiscent of the days of martial law.
“We urge our friends and families in Taiwan to continue the pressure for justices, freedom and democracy,” it said.
“We appeal to the United States government and Congress to pay close attention to the developments in Taiwan and to support those who fight for freedom,” the letter said.
“A stable and democratic Taiwan can only be ensured if the people have a fully free choice in running their own lives,” the letter concluded.
The letter was signed by the Wang Kang-Lu Memorial Foundation, the Formosan Association for Human Rights, the Formosan Association for Public Affairs, Friends for Taiwan, the North American Taiwanese Professors’ Association, two branches of the North American Taiwanese Women’s Association, the North American Taiwanese Engineers’ Association, the Professor Chen Wen-Chen Memorial Foundation and the Taiwan Hakka Association for Public Affairs.
It was also signed by the Taiwanese American Center, eight separate branches of the Taiwanese Association of America, the World Taiwanese Congress and World United Formosans for Independence.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS