Human rights campaigners yesterday called for amendments to the Act Governing Relations with Hong Kong and Macau (香港澳門關係條例) to facilitate asylum applications from there.
The call was made at a news conference in support of yesterday’s protests in Hong Kong, which marked the anniversary of the territory’s return to Chinese control.
“Taiwan should act as an ark for human rights as the people of Hong Kong and China face persecution,” Taiwan Association for China Human Rights chairman Yang Hsien-hung (楊憲宏) said, praising the passage of amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) in the Legislative Yuan’s Internal Administration Committee on Monday.
The news conference was attended by lawmakers from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the New Power Party.
Yang said the amendments will ease asylum applications for Chinese facing persecution by removing the requirements that they hold official Chinese papers and enter Taiwan legally.
However, amendments to the Act Governing Relations with Hong Kong and Macau are needed to allow for similar asylum conditions to applicants from the two territories, he said, urging the swift passage of proposed amendments sponsored by DPP legislators Yu Mei-nu (尤美女) and Wellington Koo (顧立雄).
Koo said that while the act contains provisions requiring the government to provide “necessary help” to residents of Hong Kong and Macau whose safety and freedom are threatened for political reasons, new provisions are necessary to improve their residency rights.
Hong Kong bookseller Lam Wing-kei (林榮基) has said he would choose Taiwan if he is eventually forced to seek political asylum.
Minister of the Interior Yeh Jiunn-rong (葉俊榮) last month said that a new legal mechanism would be needed to process an application from Lam if he sought to enter Taiwan for reasons other than tourism.
“Our hearts are with the people of Hong Kong today, because we face a similar threat; we also fear that our freedoms will be violated or stripped away,” Taiwan Citizen Media Cultural Association executive director Sylvia Feng (馮賢賢) said. “Our government should not drop its hands when dealing with people from China, Hong Kong or Macau who face political persecution because we are afraid of Chinese pressure. Maintaining the ‘status quo’ does not mean maintaining a ‘status quo’ in which freedoms face ever greater restrictions.”
“What has happened in Hong Kong could also end up happening here,” said Chris Su (蘇南洲), director of the Christian Arts Press, which prints Christian literature for the underground market in China, adding that an associate had been temporarily detained at a Chinese airport for his firm’s publication of “anti-revolutionary materials” regarding Hong Kong’s social movement, while a Hong Kong publisher was given a 10-year sentence for publishing a book by a banned author his firm also carries.
“I have published 10 books by that author. Does that mean I deserve a 100-year sentence?” he said.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
RSS