Article 29 of the Criminal Code states that “a person who solicits another to commit an offense is a solicitor. A solicitor shall be punished according to the punishment prescribed for the solicited offense.”
Academic Lai Yueh-tchienn (賴岳謙) said on China Central Television that “Taiwan’s military is just a paper tiger,” that its weapons arsenal is decades behind China’s, its training is weak and its officers’ ideas are based on a 50-year-old ideology instead of modern thinking.
Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅) on Chinese TV called for “unification” by military force, saying that Beijing’s missiles should be aimed at the worst Taiwan independence activist, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).
China Unification Promotion Party (CUPP) founder Chang An-le (張安樂) — also known as the “White Wolf” — said that he would establish “red troops” to promote “peaceful unification.”
He also called for an “uprising before the battle” and cooperation with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to overturn the Taiwanese government.
When all these things occurred, these people were not only solicitors, they were also guilty of treason.
Promoting the demise of Taiwan and encouraging China’s annexation of the nation by military force are not covered by freedom of expression.
These people should not be allowed to talk such nonsense and be tolerated based on the idea that the public should independently make up their mind about the comments.
Legal professionals dealing with false news and rumormongering should not ignore them and issue “not guilty” verdicts, saying that the comments have not incited any social unrest.
Faced with the Chinese dictatorship, democratic countries around the world are on their guard against Beijing’s aggression.
An increasing number of states are working together to form an alliance to contain China.
A meeting of top US and Japanese leaders last month condemned the threat posed by China’s military actions, calling them destabilizing.
However, there is a group of people in Taiwan who chime in with anything China says.
They hold high the banner of “freedom of expression” as a protective umbrella, while working to destroy national unity, promote rumors and create unrest.
Lai, a former university professor, has become a mouthpiece for China, and CUPP members have on multiple occasions — here in free and democratic Taiwan — attacked Lam Wing-kei (林榮基), a former manager of Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay Books, as well as Hong Kong singer, actor and democracy campaigner Denise Ho (何韻詩), pouring red paint over them.
These people are also using Taiwan’s freedom of expression as a protective umbrella as they work to suppress the same freedom on behalf of the CCP, a party that regards freedom of expression as a crime.
This issue, rooted in the tragic mess that surrounds Taiwan’s national identity, is a reminder that Taiwanese must protect their freedom of expression.
Chin Ching is an educator.
Translated by Perry Svensson
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