Former Chinese State Administration for Religious Affairs director Ye Xiaowen (葉小文) applied to enter Taiwan on the pretext of offering his condolences over the death of Buddhist master Hsing Yun (星雲法師). Ye’s application was rejected by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), a decision applauded by a group of lawyers representing the Falun Gong.
The government’s move to bar Ye from visiting Taiwan is “absolutely legitimate and reasonable,” as Ye has been involved in genocide and “crimes against humanity,” the group said in a statement.
Denying Ye entry is in accordance with the nation’s democratic policy of upholding human rights, the statement said.
The council’s decision prevented a situation that could have turned into an international legal and political incident.
On Jan. 19, 2005, the World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong released a list of Chinese Communist Party officials and its network of enforcers: Ye was one of them.
The organization said that the US’ Anti-Atrocity Alien Deportation Act states that the names of these criminals are to be submitted to the customs and immigration offices of all countries.
Under international law, the crimes against humanity and religious persecution committed by Ye fall under the principle of universal jurisdiction. In other words, all democratic countries and their national courts should exercise the authority to investigate and prosecute Ye’s “crimes against humanity.”
Although Taiwan did not cite the principle of universal jurisdiction to scrutinize Ye’s case, prosecutors can and should investigate crimes against humanity and religious persecution, as required by the Convention on the Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (殘害人群治罪條例).
People involved in genocide, defined in Article 2 of the convention as “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group,” are to be sentenced to death, life imprisonment or more than seven years in prison. Ye’s “crimes against humanity” are considered a capital felony. Hence, should he enter Taiwan, he would be arrested and prosecuted.
It is fortunate that the MAC discovered Ye’s intention to visit Taiwan and barred him from doing so. The council prevented the nation from a major dilemma of tracking down criminals while dealing with international political problems.
Huang Di-ying is an attorney.
Translated by Liu Yi-hung
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