Former Chinese citizen Zhou Shuguang (周曙光), who yesterday applied for a Republic of China (ROC) passport after becoming a naturalized citizen and obtaining an ROC identification card on Thursday, has expressed an interest in running for public office so that he can experience democracy in action.
The journalist, who achieved international fame after exposing Beijing injustices on his blog, yesterday said that he appreciates, but does not shy away from, the symbolism of requesting an ROC passport on the 29th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre.
Zhou, also known as Zoula (佐拉), became qualified to obtain ROC citizenship after residing in Hualien’s Rueisui Township (瑞穗) with his Taiwanese wife for the past seven years.
Photo: Wang Chun-chi, Taipei Times
An information technology engineer by profession, Zhou was born in 1981 in China’s Hunan Province, and gained renown as an independent journalist when he used his blog as a platform to publish stories on Beijing’s land appropriations, suppression of freedom of speech and oppression of ethnic minorities.
In 2008, he covered unrest in Tibet, riots in Guizhou and a politically motivated knife attack in Shanghai, for which he was arrested and detained without charges.
Zhou said that his activism attracted the attention of the Chinese government, and that he was frequently ordered by the security services to present himself at their offices for questioning.
“They often asked me where I had gone, whom I had seen and why I had seen them. My life was being monitored and they had even cut my telephone line,” he said yesterday. “During the Olympics, I was put under house arrest to prevent me from going out or reporting on anything.”
In 2009, he was prevented by the police from organizing a conference in Beijing on the anniversary of the massacre, Zhou said, adding that they expelled him from the city and barred him from attending any events related to the massacre.
He took a photograph of the Great Wall of China and posted it online — it became a symbol of defiance to state censorship, he said.
Observing Taiwanese politics since his immigration, Zhou has found the elitism of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to resemble that of the Chinese Communist Party, he said.
The Democratic Progressive Party, which originally branded itself as being close to the people, has become less daring since becoming the ruling party, he added.
After being a Taiwanese resident for 10 years — an eligibility requirement for public office — he would like to run for borough warden, Zhou said.
“It would be interesting to experience Taiwanese democracy as a political candidate,” he said.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) today condemned the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) after the Czech officials confirmed that Chinese agents had surveilled Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) during her visit to Prague in March last year. Czech Military Intelligence director Petr Bartovsky yesterday said that Chinese operatives had attempted to create the conditions to carry out a demonstrative incident involving Hsiao, going as far as to plan a collision with her car. Hsiao was vice president-elect at the time. The MAC said that it has requested an explanation and demanded a public apology from Beijing. The CCP has repeatedly ignored the desires
Many Chinese spouses required to submit proof of having renounced their Chinese household registration have either completed the process or provided affidavits ahead of the June 30 deadline, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Thursday. Of the 12,146 people required to submit the proof, 5,534 had done so as of Wednesday, MAC deputy head and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. Another 2,572 people who met conditions for exemption or deferral from submitting proof of deregistration — such as those with serious illnesses or injuries — have submitted affidavits instead, he said. “As long as individuals are willing to cooperate with the legal
The Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant’s license has expired and it cannot simply be restarted, the Executive Yuan said today, ahead of national debates on the nuclear power referendum. The No. 2 reactor at the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County was disconnected from the nation’s power grid and completely shut down on May 17, the day its license expired. The government would prioritize people’s safety and conduct necessary evaluations and checks if there is a need to extend the service life of the reactor, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference. Lee said that the referendum would read: “Do
The Ministry of Environment yesterday held a seminar in Taipei for experts from Taiwan and Japan to exchange their experiences on the designs and development of public toilets. Japan Toilet Association chairman Kohei Yamamoto said that he was impressed with the eco-toilet set up at Daan Forest Park, adding that Japan still faces issues regarding public restrooms despite the progress it made over the past decades. For example, an all-gender toilet was set up in Kabukicho in Tokyo’s Shinjuku District several years ago, but it caused a public backlash and was rebuilt into traditional men’s and women’s toilets, he said. Japan Toilet Association
RSS