The New Power Party (NPP) yesterday urged President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration to make clear its stance on the Hong Kong police’s arrests of 14 pro-democracy activists, including “father of democracy” Martin Lee (李柱銘), and offer assistance to prevent any possible infringement of their basic rights.
The NPP also urged the Hong Kong government and Beijing to exercise self-discipline and refrain from capitalizing on the COVID-19 pandemic to step up their political purge and quash dissent.
The Tsai administration should call on the international community to join it in condemning the Hong Kong government’s abuse of power in persecuting pro-democracy activists, the NPP said in a statement.
Photo: AFP
The Tsai administration should make clear its position on the incident and be ready to provide any assistance that the activists might need in the face of possible human rights breaches, it said.
The Legislative Yuan should consider passing a refugee act and amending Article 18 of the Act Governing Relations with Hong Kong and Macau (香港澳門關係條例) to clearly define procedures when offering assistance to residents of the two territories who have been subjected to political persecution by their government, it added.
Separately, the Mainland Affairs Council said that the arrests were aimed at causing a chilling effect, which would not help to de-escalate tensions in the territory.
The Hong Kong government should heed the appeals of Hong Kong residents, respond to their expectations and guarantee them the right of assembly granted by the territory’s Basic Law, the council said.
Encouraging diversity, rather than quashing dissent, is the way to ensure long-term prosperity and stability in the territory, it said.
Additional reporting by Chung Li-hua
DEFENSE: The first set of three NASAMS that were previously purchased is expected to be delivered by the end of this year and deployed near the capital, sources said Taiwan plans to procure 28 more sets of M-142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), as well as nine additional sets of National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS), military sources said yesterday. Taiwan had previously purchased 29 HIMARS launchers from the US and received the first 11 last year. Once the planned purchases are completed and delivered, Taiwan would have 57 sets of HIMARS. The army has also increased the number of MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) purchased from 64 to 84, the sources added. Each HIMARS launch pod can carry six Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, capable of
GET TO SAFETY: Authorities were scrambling to evacuate nearly 700 people in Hualien County to prepare for overflow from a natural dam formed by a previous typhoon Typhoon Podul yesterday intensified and accelerated as it neared Taiwan, with the impact expected to be felt overnight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, while the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration announced that schools and government offices in most areas of southern and eastern Taiwan would be closed today. The affected regions are Tainan, Kaohsiung and Chiayi City, and Yunlin, Chiayi, Pingtung, Hualien and Taitung counties, as well as the outlying Penghu County. As of 10pm last night, the storm was about 370km east-southeast of Taitung County, moving west-northwest at 27kph, CWA data showed. With a radius of 120km, Podul is carrying maximum sustained
Tropical Storm Podul strengthened into a typhoon at 8pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with a sea warning to be issued late last night or early this morning. As of 8pm, the typhoon was 1,020km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving west at 23kph. The storm carried maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts reaching 155kph, the CWA said. Based on the tropical storm’s trajectory, a land warning could be issued any time from midday today, it added. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said Podul is a fast-moving storm that is forecast to bring its heaviest rainfall and strongest
TRAJECTORY: The severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday, and would influence the nation to varying degrees, a forecaster said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it would likely issue a sea warning for Tropical Storm Podul tomorrow morning and a land warning that evening at the earliest. CWA forecaster Lin Ting-yi (林定宜) said the severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving west at 21kph and packing sustained winds of 108kph and gusts of up to 136.8kph, the CWA said. Lin said that the tropical storm was about 1,710km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, with two possible trajectories over the next one
RSS