Beijing has told border officers to prevent Hong Kong travellers from smuggling June 4: The True Story (
Anyone trying to enter the mainland with one copy of the book will have it confiscated, while anyone with two or more copies could face criminal charges for "endangering national security," the I-mail and Sing Tao (星島日報) daily newspapers reported. All Chinese officers -- including those who stay overseas for business or political purposes -- are also banned from reading, buying or spreading the content of the book.
The book offers what its editors say are detailed minutes of secret meetings between top Chinese Communist Party officials on the pro-democracy protests of 1989 in China.
Hundreds and maybe thousands of unarmed civilians were killed when top Chinese leaders sent in troops and tanks to end weeks of protests on June 4, 1989.
Beijing responded to the publication of The Tiananmen Papers by saying the editors had fabricated materials and distorted the facts.
The Chinese-language version, about three times as long as the English version as it includes more details, is scheduled to hit stores in Taiwan, Hong Kong, the US and other major markets today.
But advanced sales of the book started in Hong Kong on Thursday where its initial run of 10,000 copies was immediately sold out.
The English-language version went on sale in January this year.
Meanwhile, one of the editors of The Tiananmen Papers said yesterday that China's leaders will face increased popular pressure with the publication of the Chinese-language version.
"The publication of the Chinese-language edition will bring popular pressure on the leadership that hasn't been there before," Princeton University professor Perry Link said.
"What will happen when the Chinese version comes out is that a lot more Chinese will read it. Not only in Hong Kong and Taiwan and overseas, but eventually it will go over the Internet and other ways into China."
CLOSURES: Several forest recreation areas have been closed as a precaution, while some ferry and flight services have been suspended or rescheduled A land warning for Tropical Storm Danas was issued last night at 8:30pm, as the storm’s outer bands began bringing heavy rain to southeastern regions, including Hualien and Taitung counties, and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島), according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). As of 9:15pm, the storm was approximately 330km west-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, moving north-northeast at 10-20kph, the CWA reported. A sea warning had already been issued at 8:30am yesterday. The storm had maximum sustained winds near its center of 83kph, with gusts of up to 108kph, according to the CWA. As of 9:30pm last night, Kaohsiung, Tainan,
POWERFUL DETERRENT: Precision fire and dispersed deployment of units would allow Taiwanese artillery to inflict heavy casualties in an invasion, a researcher said The nation’s military has boosted its self-defense capability with the establishment of a new company equipped with the US-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS). The company, part of the army’s 58th Artillery Command, is Taiwan’s first HIMARS unit. Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄), who presided over the formation ceremony in Taichung on Friday, called the unit a significant addition to the nation’s defensive strength, saying it would help deter adversaries from starting a war. The unit is made up of top-performing soldiers who received training in the US, according to the Ministry of National Defense. The HIMARS can be equipped with
UNILATERAL: The move from China’s aviation authority comes despite a previous 2015 agreement that any changes to flight paths would be done by consensus The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday slammed Beijing for arbitrarily opening the M503 flight route’s W121 connecting path, saying that such unilateral conduct disrespected the consensus between both sides and could destabilize the Taiwan Strait and the wider region. The condemnation came after the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) earlier yesterday announced it “has activated the W121 connecting path of the M503 flight route,” meaning that west-to-east flights are now permitted along the path. The newly activated west-to-east route is intended to “alleviate the pressure caused by the increase of flights,” China’s state-run Xinhua news agency quoted China’s Taiwan Affairs Office
STRONG WINDS: Without the Central Mountain Range as a shield, people should be ready for high-speed winds, CWA weather forecaster Liu Yu-chi said Danas was yesterday upgraded to a typhoon and could grow stronger as it moves closely along the nation’s west coastline, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Hsinchu and Chiayi cities, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung, as well as Hsinchu, Miaoli, Changhua, Yunlin, Nantou, Chiayi, Penghu and Pingtung counties have canceled work and school today. Work and school in Keelung, Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan, and Yilan, Taitung, Hualien, Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties would continue as usual, although offices and schools would be closed in Taoyuan’s Luju (蘆竹), Dayuan (大園), Guangyin (觀音) and Sinwu (新屋) districts. As of 5pm yesterday, the typhoon’s
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