Legislative Speaker Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) yesterday said that he was infuriated by the Chinese “abduction” of Taiwanese nationals, calling on the nation and the public to “take action” to demand an unconditional release and return of the seized Taiwanese to Taiwan.
Su said China’s illegal behavior was deplorable, and that Beijing’s justification that it was based on the idea that Taiwan is part of China is unacceptable.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Su Chih-fen (蘇治芬) asked whether the Kenya imbroglio was the “fruit of Minister of Justice Luo Ying-shay’s (羅瑩雪) recent visit to China.”
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
Su Chih-fen said the incident has proved that the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) diplomatic policy has been based on a dead-end policy of “kneeling” to China.
She said that Luo had just come back from China, where the minister, according to the ministry, trumpeted the effect and the outlook of the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement (海峽兩岸共同打擊犯罪及司法互助協議).
“Is China’s flagrant arrest of [our nationals] and returning them to Taiwan later under the table, or the internalizing of international affairs, what Luo’s visit to China delivered?” the lawmaker asked.
DPP Legislator Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政) said China has “expanded its jurisdiction beyond all bounds,” putting all Taiwanese abroad at risk.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) said that China’s action has destroyed the “tacit judicial agreement” between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, and that if China could force Taiwanese nationals abroad to be deported to its land, it could one day indict Taiwanese nationals abroad and have them forcibly sent to China.
“If every country follows what Kenya has done, the Chinese government could arrest Taiwanese nationals and send them to China for trial through its diplomatic allies,” former DPP legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) said on Facebook yesterday.
“Beijing could use this tactic to fabricate accusations and then have those who fail to conform to Beijing’s political standards deported to China. This would have a chilling effect and seriously damage Taiwan’s sovereignty, human rights and democracy,” he said, calling on all Taiwanese to “get angry” and “protest to China and raise the country’s voice in the international community.”
Considering that most countries issue more than five denominations of banknotes, the central bank has decided to redesign all five denominations, the bank said as it prepares for the first major overhaul of the banknotes in more than 24 years. Central bank Governor Yang Chin-lung (楊金龍) is expected to report to the Legislative Yuan today on the bank’s operations and the redesign’s progress. The bank in a report sent to the legislature ahead of today’s meeting said it had commissioned a survey on the public’s preferences. Survey results showed that NT$100 and NT$1,000 banknotes are the most commonly used, while NT$200 and NT$2,000
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