Chinese dissidents reported being detained and harassed yesterday as authorities clamped down on the 20th anniversary of a reformist leader’s death that triggered the 1989 Tiananmen protests.
The anniversary is seen as the start of an ultra-sensitive period for Chinese Communist Party leaders as they will be forced to revisit the June 4 crackdown that killed hundreds, if not thousands, of people.
Qi Zhiyong (齊志勇), a well-known Chinese dissident who lost a leg when he was shot during the military crackdown, said yesterday he had been taken away by police.
PHOTO: AFP
“When I went out at seven o’clock to take my child to school, I was forced into a police car by state security police,” Qi said in a text message. “They have taken me to the outskirts [of Beijing].”
Qi said the detention was related to yesterday being the anniversary of the death of former communist leader Hu Yaobang (胡耀邦), who was purged in 1987 for his perceived weak response to student protests and died on April 15, 1989.
His death sparked calls for political reforms that led to the massive democracy protests in and around Tiananmen Square, which the Chinese military brutally quashed on June 4.
Other dissidents and a rights group also reported increased scrutiny yesterday.
Wang Songlian, research coordinator at activist group Chinese Human Rights Defenders, said a number of dissidents had told her of heightened tensions on the day of the anniversary.
“Today is a day when police have started putting people outside dissidents’ homes and following them,” she said, declining to immediately reveal their names before getting their permission.
“We have a number of people that have been subject to increased surveillance and some have been told not to go to meetings today where they could see other dissidents,” she said.
Jiang Qisheng (江棋生), a Beijing-based activist who was jailed for more than a year for participating in the 1989 protests, said police were watching him constantly in his native Jiangsu Province, where he had been staying for more than a week.
“They stand at the gate of my house guarding me without my permission and wherever I go they follow me,” he said by telephone.
“When I return to Beijing, I think it will be the same as it is getting nearer June 4,” he said.
Jiang, who was jailed again in 1999 after urging people to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown, said he had started coming under police scrutiny during the nation’s annual parliamentary session in March.
Some netizens, meanwhile, posted comments online about Hu, widely admired because he tried to rehabilitate the victims of the tumultuous Cultural Revolution and admitted mistakes in the handling of Tibet.
“The older generation’s opinion of him is good, it’s just a shame that afterwards at school we have not ever really heard of him,” said one posting on a popular Web portal.
Also See: Hong Kong students vote on Tiananmen motion
The Taipei Times ran an interview with Qi Zhiyong in its April 14 edition. Please see: The Tiananmen ache
The Chien Feng IV (勁蜂, Mighty Hornet) loitering munition is on track to enter flight tests next month in connection with potential adoption by Taiwanese and US armed forces, a government source said yesterday. The kamikaze drone, which boasts a range of 1,000km, debuted at the Taipei Aerospace and Defense Technology Exhibition in September, the official said on condition of anonymity. The Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology and US-based Kratos Defense jointly developed the platform by leveraging the engine and airframe of the latter’s MQM-178 Firejet target drone, they said. The uncrewed aerial vehicle is designed to utilize an artificial intelligence computer
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday decided to shelve proposed legislation that would give elected officials full control over their stipends, saying it would wait for a consensus to be reached before acting. KMT Legislator Chen Yu-jen (陳玉珍) last week proposed amendments to the Organic Act of the Legislative Yuan (立法院組織法) and the Regulations on Allowances for Elected Representatives and Subsidies for Village Chiefs (地方民意代表費用支給及村里長事務補助費補助條例), which would give legislators and councilors the freedom to use their allowances without providing invoices for reimbursement. The proposal immediately drew criticism, amid reports that several legislators face possible charges of embezzling fees intended to pay
REQUIREMENTS: The US defense secretary must submit a Taiwan security assistance road map and an appraisal of Washington’s ability to respond to Indo-Pacific conflict The US Congress has released a new draft of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which includes up to US$1 billion in funding for Taiwan-related security cooperation next year. The version published on Sunday by US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson removed earlier language that would have invited Taiwan to participate in the US-led Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC). A statement on Johnson’s Web page said the NDAA “enhances U.S. defense initiatives in the Indo-Pacific to bolster Taiwan’s defense and support Indo-Pacific allies.” The bill would require the US secretary of defense to “enable fielding of uncrewed and anti-uncrewed systems capabilities”
Renewed border fighting between Thailand and Cambodia showed no signs of abating yesterday, leaving hundreds of thousands of displaced people in both countries living in strained conditions as more flooded into temporary shelters. Reporters on the Thai side of the border heard sounds of outgoing, indirect fire yesterday. About 400,000 people have been evacuated from affected areas in Thailand and about 700 schools closed while fighting was ongoing in four border provinces, said Thai Rear Admiral Surasant Kongsiri, a spokesman for the military. Cambodia evacuated more than 127,000 villagers and closed hundreds of schools, the Thai Ministry of Defense said. Thailand’s military announced that
RSS