Falun Gong practitioner Shao Yuhua (邵玉華) — who came to Taiwan 11 years ago after marrying a Taiwanese man and now holds Republic of China (ROC) citizenship — and her daughter were allegedly arrested by state security agents in China, members of the Taiwan Falun Dafa Association said yesterday.
“My wife went back to her hometown in Nanyang, Henan Province, with our 10-year-old daughter to visit her family last month soon after the summer vacation started,” Shao’s husband, Cheng Shu-ta (鄭書達), told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. “Her family in Henan told me yesterday [Friday] that she — along with our daughter — were arrested by state security agents.”
Cheng said his wife had been staying with her sister Shao Yuxiu (邵玉秀), who is also a Falun Gong practitioner, during her visit to China.
At about 6am on Friday, a few men who identified themselves as agents from the Ministry of State Security showed up at the door and took away Shao Yuhua and her daughter, Cheng said. The men also took Shao Yuhua’s cellphone, baggage and passport, he said.
“So far, we’re still not clear where she is,” he said.
Although it was not clear why Shao Yuhua was taken away, Taiwan Falun Dafa Association chairman Chang Ching-hsi (張清溪) suspected it had to do with her being a Falun Gong practitioner.
“We urge [China] to release the two kidnapped ROC citizens and their families and relatives in China immediately. We want promises that no such human rights violations will be committed again,” Chang said.
“As an immigrant spouse from China, Shao Yuhua is supposed to be protected by governments on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, but she is now missing because of her spiritual beliefs,” he said.
“How can the people of Taiwan believe there can be friendly exchanges between China and Taiwan?” he asked.
Chang called on the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) and the Strait Exchange Foundation (SEF) to intervene.
After the news conference, Chang and several other Falun Gong practitioners went to the Landis Hotel where China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Yang Yi (楊毅) was scheduled to attend a dinner reception hosted by Taiwanese business leaders, hoping to deliver their petition to Yang.
However, Yang ignored the practitioners and walked straight into an elevator.
Contacted by the Taipei Times for comment, MAC vice-chairman Liu Te-shun (劉德勳) said that as soon as the MAC learned the news from the media, it “asked the SEF to get in touch with the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait to see how we can help.”
NOTE: In the article above, we reported that Falun Gong practitioner Shao Yuhua's daughter was detained and that her sister is also a Falun Gong follower. Shao's daughter was not detained. Her sister does not practice Falun Gong and was detained briefly by Chinese police and released. Only Shao remains in detention. The Taipei Times regrets the error.
BREAKING RECORDS: Kuo Hsing-chun’s snatch, clean and jerk, and combined lifts were all Olympic records, although well off her combined world record Taiwanese weightlifter Kuo Hsing-chun (郭婞淳) yesterday completed her elusive quest for Olympic gold, clinching Taiwan’s first win at the Tokyo Games as she set Olympic records in the women’s under-59kg weight class. Kuo, who has not lost a major competition in her weight class since the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, where she was hampered by injury and finished third, finally chased down the gold medal that had long remained just out of her grasp. The 27-year-old finished with a combined lift of 236kg — 103kg in the snatch and 133kg in the clean and jerk — 21kg more
NEXT ROUND: About 1.44 million people who have registered online to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine are to get text messages today to book a vaccine appointment Strict border control measures, including a ban on foreign nationals entering or transiting through Taiwan, are to continue, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday, as it reported 10 locally transmitted COVID-19 infections and no deaths. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said five of the cases tested positive during isolation or upon ending it. The sources of infection of eight cases have been identified, one remains unclear and one is under investigation, he said, adding that 87.8 percent of the people infected with COVID-19 since May 11 have been released from isolation. Chen said an
NO ‘ONE CHINA’ LIE: The appropriations act passed the US House of Representatives with a vote of 217-212, but still needs Senate approval and the president’s signature The US House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a foreign assistance spending bill with an amendment forbidding that funds be used to create, procure or display maps depicting Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic of China. The amendment was introduced by five Republican representatives — Tom Tiffany, Steve Chabot, Scott Perry, Kat Cammack and Mike Gallagher — and passed unanimously in a bundle with a dozen other amendments. “This is a common sense measure,” Tiffany said, speaking on the House floor on Wednesday. “As we all know, Taiwan has never been part of communist China. The Taiwanese people elect their
THE HOME TEAM: DPP Legislator Kao Chia-yu said she canceled her booking for an AstraZeneca shot as soon as she heard that the Medigen vaccine was an option President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday said that she would get inoculated with the COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by Taiwan-based Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp (高端疫苗). Tsai wrote on Facebook that she had registered for her first vaccine dose using the national online COVID-19 vaccination booking system, which allows people to indicate their preferred vaccine brand and to make an appointment when the shot becomes available. Tsai said that she opted for the Medigen vaccine — one of three now available on the system, along with the AstraZeneca and Moderna vaccines — even though Medigen has yet to deliver any doses or provide a
RSS