About 300 people took part in a demonstration in support of pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong, spelling out the words “Free Hong Kong” with their bodies in Taipei’s Central Art Park.
The event was organized by Hong Kong Outlanders, the Taiwan Youth Association for Democracy, Taiwan Association for Human Rights, Taiwan Citizen Front, Covenants Watch, the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan and several human rights groups.
In addition to the words, an image of Taiwan and one of “Raincoat Man” — honoring Marco Leung (梁凌杰), a Hong Konger who died on June 15 wearing a yellow rain poncho after falling from construction scaffolding in front of Pacific Place in the Admiralty district while hanging protest banners, were displayed.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
The image shows that the public in Taiwan fully supports the people in Hong Kong in their pursuit of freedom, democracy and the rule of law, the organizers said.
As Hong Kong police continue to use excessive force to break up the continuing protests, and have even arrested pedestrians who were just shopping, Taiwan Association for Human Rights Secretary-General Chiu Ee-ling (邱伊翎) said the police have impeded press freedom, handled female protestors humiliatingly and arrested and pressed charges against minors.
The police have violated the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and Convention on the Rights of the Child, she added.
A Hong Kong Outlanders representative, who identified himself as “Kuma,” said the Hong Kong government claimed that a general strike staged on Monday last week was aimed at destroying the territory’s economy by dividing the people.
“However, a stable economy should be founded on a free and democratic society. If Hong Kong loses this foundation, the assets owned by the Hong Kong people could disappear overnight. As Hong Kongers living in Taiwan, we support every citizen of Hong Kong who went on strike and walked out of classes last week, as they spoke out by taking actions against a twisted social order. They might miss a day’s work and miss a meal, but the fall of Hong Kong would be irreversible,” he said.
Hong Kongers decided to take to the streets day and night because their democratic system has been greatly eroded, and problems generated by ineffective government and an out-of-control police force cannot be addressed through the political system, he said.
Eve Lui (呂天忻), who represents Hong Kong Higher Institutions International Affairs Delegations, said Taiwan has witnessed how Hong Kong has fallen from a free and democratic state into an undemocratic one since 1997.
“Our elected legislators were being disqualified, our book publishers were kidnapped and our social activists were arrested and locked in prisons. A general election is still impossible for us, and Hong Kong is still ruled by a puppet from Beijing,” she said.
Participant Michelle Wu (吳奕柔) said that Beijing was ignoring “the Hong Kongers’ insistence that the territory maintain a free and democratic system.”
‘WIN-WIN’: The Philippines, and central and eastern European countries are important potential drone cooperation partners, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung said Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in an interview published yesterday confirmed that there are joint ventures between Taiwan and Poland in the drone industry. Lin made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper). The government-backed Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance and the Polish Chamber of Unmanned Systems on Wednesday last week signed a memorandum of understanding in Poland to develop a “non-China” supply chain for drones and work together on key technologies. Asked if Taiwan prioritized Poland among central and eastern European countries in drone collaboration, Lin
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
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
CABINET APPROVAL: People seeking assisted reproduction must be assessed to determine whether they would be adequate parents, the planned changes say Proposed amendments to the Assisted Reproduction Act (人工生殖法) advanced yesterday by the Executive Yuan would grant married lesbian couples and single women access to legal assisted reproductive services. The proposed revisions are “based on the fundamental principle of respecting women’s reproductive autonomy,” Cabinet spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) quoted Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君), who presided over a Cabinet meeting earlier yesterday, as saying at the briefing. The draft amendment would be submitted to the legislature for review. The Ministry of Health and Welfare, which proposed the amendments, said that experts on children’s rights, gender equality, law and medicine attended cross-disciplinary meetings, adding that
RSS