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
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
BULLY TACTICS: Beijing has continued its incursions into Taiwan’s airspace even as Xi Jinping talked about Taiwan being part of the Chinese family and nation China should stop its coercion of Taiwan and respect mainstream public opinion in Taiwan about sovereignty if its expression of goodwill is genuine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. Ministry spokesman Jeff Liu (劉永健) made the comment in response to media queries about a meeting between former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) the previous day. Ma voiced support for the so-called “1992 consensus,” while Xi said that although the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have “different systems,” this does not change the fact that they are “part of the same country,” and that “external
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source