Before the Lunar New Year, Huang Wen-hsiung (
The article states that "Members of the public who wish to leave the country shall apply for permission from the Ministry of Interior. Those who are not given permission shall not leave the country."
Huang is now standing trial at the Taipei District Court.
Huang was a key figure in the assassination attempt on the late president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) in 1970.
He was in exile for years and not allowed to return to Taiwan. But he did return in his own way.
The "visa system" used by immigration management agencies in civilized countries is meant to give permission for foreigners to enter the country.
But in authoritarian countries, the system is often used to clamp down on their own citizens.
Generally, reasonable restrictions are necessary for departures, but a citizen's right to re-enter his or her own country should not be restricted.
Obviously, provisions in the National Security Law run counter to the rights of citizens.
Huang has requested the court drop the case on the grounds that it violates the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights.
It also violates seven international human rights treaties Taiwan has signed.
The pending court ruling on his case will be an indicator of whether Taiwan can truly bid farewell to authoritarianism.
Huang's so-called violation of the National Security Law is a leftover from the Taiwan government's blacklisting policy.
In the 1980s, before the lifting of martial law, kicking out its own citizens on the very plane they arrived on was a common practice of the Taiwan government.
Political violence has gradually faded from the scene as the democratization process rolls on.
But residue of this polarization still remains in cases like Huang's, who exercised his citizen's right by returning to Taiwan on his own initiative.
Huang is now testing the waters, putting the government machine under a human rights microscope. His case is also a test of the laws of the ruling power, and as such is significant to the development of human rights in Taiwan.
Now it is up to the powers that be to answer.
Lee Min-yung is a poet.
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